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THE 

HORSE'S FOOT, 

AND 

HOW TO SHOE IT 



GIVING THE MOST APPROVED 



Methods of Horse-Shoeing 

TOGETHER WITH THE 

ANATOMY OF THE HORSE'S FOOT AND ITS DISEASES. 



,,^/ 




"Wltto. JPorty-t-vro Illiistxra>tlonai. 



-^■V>-< (.A/f"'$^ 



CINCINNATI: 

PETER G. THOMSON, Publisher, 

179 Vine Street, 

1S79. 



v., 1879. ^^^^^// 



T 



COPYRIGHT 

1879 

By Peter G. Thomson. 



3^ ^0\ 



INDEX. 



Action, High, 


59 


Anatomy of the Foot, 


• 15 


Ankle Cutters, 


. 58 


Back Sinews, 


• 17 


Balancing the Foot, 


54 


Bar Shoe for Thrush, 


• 33 


Bars 


20 


Paring th,e. 


. . 65 


Shape of the, 


23 


Uses of the, 


. . 65 


Bone Spavin, 


49 


Coronet, 


. 26 


Bones, Hock, 


. 48 


of the Foot, 


5. 6, 8, 15 


Sessamoid, 


17 


Splint, 


. 5.16 


* ' Enlargement, 


5» 6, 49 


Boot for the Foot, 


• 59 


Burning the Sole, 


72 


Calkins, 


. 6 


Evils of, 


71.74 


on Outer Heel, . 


. 49 


Canker, causes of. 


61 


Cannon-bone, description 


of, . 16 


Cartilages, Ossified, 


• 67 


Where located, . 


• 7 


Centennial Shoe, . 


44 


Cherry, . 


• 72 



Cleft of Frog, 


20 


Clenches, Raising the, 


67 


Clipping, .... 


52 


Clips, 


60 


Coffin-bone, Erection of. 


39 


How Nourished, 


25 


Nature of the, . 


25 


Coffin Box, .... 


12 


Description of, . 


20 


Parts of, ... 


22 


Colts, Feet of, . . . . 


8 


Compression of Frog, 


51 


Concussions, how Avoided, 


26 


Concave Shoes, 


54 


Contraction, different kinds, 


35 


How to Prevent, 


39 


Inner, . . . . 


38 


of Quarters, . 


72 


Outer, . . . . 


35 


Paring the Sole for. 


36 


Corns, causes of, . . . 


43 


Remedy for, . 


44 


Coronary Band, 


21 


Coronet, .... 


20 


Bone, 


. 26 


Raised, .... 


13 


Cracks, Sand, 


72 


in Hind Feet, 


47 


Crescent Shoe, . 


• 73 



u 


INDEX. 




Crust of Foot, Thickness of, 


21 


Foot, Hot, 


• 77 


Curb, , . , . 


. 48 


How Expanded, 


27 


How to Shoe for, . 


50 


How Rasped, 


• 52 


Cutting, Speedy, 


• 59 


Joints of, . . . 


15 


Diseases, Inherited, 


2 


On keeping it Level, . 


• 9 


of the Foot, 


2 


Outer Surface of, . 


19 






Perfect, 


. 20 


of Navicular Joint, 


51 






Draft Horses, how Shod, . 


• 52 


Preparing the. 


64 


Drop Sole, 


41 


Proper Cutting, 


• 35 






Raised on One Side, 


5 


Enlargement of Splint Bones, 


5. 6, 49 


Results of Founder, , 


. 40 


of Hock, . 


. 48 


Shape of the. 


19 


Erection of Coffin Bone, 


39 


Sole of the. 


• 9 


Evils of Calkins, 


• 71 


Split in Front, 


47 


of Long Shoes, 


. 69 


Twisted, . . . i 


', 12, 13 


Expansion of the Foot, 


27. 31 


Ulceration of. 


• 63 


Shoe, . 


37 


Unshod, 


• 35 


Experiments on Sensible Lamince, 25 


Weakness of the, . 


. 62, 66 


Extensor Tendon, 


• 15 


Forging, how to Prevent . 


■ 59 


Farriers of Paris, . 


75 


Founder, Causes of, 


30 


Feet, (see under Foot), 




Remedy for. 


. 41 


Fever in the Feet, 


41 


Symptoms of, 


41 


Fibres of the Horny Frog, 


• 23 


Frog, Cleft of, . 


. 20 


Flat Foot, . 


41 


Compression of. 


51 


Paring of, . 


• 71 


Diseased, how to Shoe, 


. 76 


Shoeing the, • 


42 


Protection of the, . 


• 65 


Shoe, 


• 76 


Ragged, 


• 79 


Fleshy Feet, 


. 76 


Sensible, 


27 


Flexor Tendon, 


15, 16 


Shape of, . 


. 24 


Floors, how to Make, . 


8 


Uses of, , 


. 24, 25 


Foot, Anatomy of, , 


• 15 


Grease, .... 


. 62 


Balancing the. 


54 


Growth of Nail Holes, 


22 


Bars of the, 


• 9 






Bones of the, . 


15 


Heels, Uses of the, . 


• 23 


Diseases of the, . 


2 


of Shoe, 


77 


Fleshy, . 


• 76 


Opening up, 


. 65 


Frog of the, 


• 9 


Hemorrhage of Sole, 


73 


Ground Surface of the. 


10 


High Action, 


• 59 



Hind Feet Subject to Thrush, 

Cracks, Causes of, . 

Hock, Bones of, 
Hoof, cut of the, . 

How Secreted, 

Parts of, , 

Rasping of. 
Horny Frog, Fibres of, 

Thickness of. 

Laminae, how Secreted, 
Horse Shoe Museum, 
Horse, Stride of, 

Striking, 

Strong Footed, 

Tender Footed, . 

Trotting, 

Weak Footed, 
Horses, How to Stall, 

Interfering, 
Hot Footed, 
How to Slow Action, 

Quicken Action, 

Inflammation of Laminae, 
Inherited Diseases, 
Inner Contraction, 

Quarters, 
Interfering Horses, 

Joints of the Foot, 
of the Hock, . 

Knee, ... 

Lafosse, 

Lamina^, Causes of, . 

Experiments on, 

How secreted, 

How to Grow, 

Inflammation of, 



INDEX. 


lU 


33 


Laminae, Number of, 


26 


47 


Sensitive, .... 


12 


. 48 


Sensible, 


25 


21, 25 


Length of Pastern, 


18 


. 22 


Ligaments, cut of. 


15 


22 


Lines, showing Measurements, . 


10 


• 72 


Location of Thrush, 


33 


22 


Long Shoes, Evils of, 


69 


• 23 


Miles, 


64 


25 
. 69 


Nail Holes, Growth of. 


22 


56 


Narrow Webbed Shoe, 


63 


. 60 


Navicular Bone, how Protected, 


26 


77 


Location of, . . . 


51 


. 64 


Diseases of, . 


51 


55 


Number of Laminae, 


26 


. 76 


Nut or Navicular Bone, 


26 


9 


Oblique Pastern, 


18 


• 58 


Old Shoe, .... 


66 


77 


On Leveling the Foot, 


9 


• 56 


Opening up the Heels, . 


65 


55 


Osmer, 


75 


40 


Ossified Cartilage, 


67 


2 


Outer Contraction, 


35 


• 38 


Outer Surface of Foot, 


19 


21 


Over-reaching, and how to Prevent 


'59 


. 58 


Pared Hoofs, how Exposed, 


71 


• 15 


Paring Flat Feet, . 


71 


48 


for Quarter Crack, 


46 




the Bars, 


65 


• 15 


the Frog, ... 24 


29 


31.69 


the Sole, 


12 


• 39 


Effects of, . 


36 


25 . 


Pastern, how united to Shank, 


17 


• 25 


Length of, . 


18 


37 


Pasterns, cut of, ... 


15 


40, 41 


Perfect Foot, the, 


20 



IV 



INDEX. 



Preparing the Foot, . . .64 
Pumiced Feet, ... 41 

Quarter, Inner, . . . .21 

Quarter, Contraction, . . 72 

Quarter Crack, . . '45 
Quarter-crack Foot, how Pared, 46 

Quittor, Causes of, . . 62 

Effects of, . . . .63 

How to Shoe for, . . 63 

Racing Plates 57 

Ragged Frog, . . . 79 

Raised Coronet, Shoe for, . • ^3 

Raising the Outer Heel, . 6 

Raising the Clenches, . . 67 

Rasp, Use of the, ... 78 

Rasping the Foot, . . -52 

Rasping the Hoof, . . 72 

Saddle Horse, how Shod, . . 53 

Sand Crack, .... 72 

Shank, how united to Pastern, 17 

Seating of Shoe, . . -67 

Secretion of the Hoof, . . 22 

Sole, ..... 22 

Sense of Touch, ... 27 

Sensible Frog, . . . '75 

Laminae, . . .22 

Sensitive Sole, . . . 27, 29 

Sessamoid Bones, Uses of, -17 

Shank, How Connected, . 16 

Shape of Bars, . . . -23 

Foot, .... 19 

Frog, ..... 24 

Shoe, Bar, for Thrush, . . 36 

Beveled at the Toe, . . 7 

Centennial, ... 44 

Choosing, . . . .67 



Shoe, Concave, 

Crescent, 

Different Styles of, . 

Expanding, 

Flat, 

For Different Feet, 

For Hind Feet, 

For Quarter Crack, 

For Spavin or Curb, 

For Split Foot, . 

Heels of. 

How Long to Wear, 

Length of, 

Long, Evils of. 

Loose at Heel, 

Narrow Webbed, 

Old, 

Raised at Outer Heel, 

Raised Inside, 

Seating of, . 

Short, 

To Quicken Action, 

To Slow Action, 

Weight of. 

When to Remove, 
Shoeing for Flat Foot, 
Short Shoes, . . 
Slipping, Prevention of, 
Sinews, Back, 
Sole, Burning the. 

Hemorrhage, of 

Paring out. 

Sensitive, 

Strength of. 

Under Surface, 
Spavin Bone, 

How to Shoe for. 
Speedy Cutting, 



54 
73 
58 
37 
76 

52 
58 
46 

50 
47 
77 
67 
78 
69 
43 
63 
66 
6 

58 
67 

44. 73 
55 
56 
54 

22»37 

42 
73 
73 
17 

72 

73 
12 
27, 29 
II 
22 
49 
50 
59 



INDEX. 



Splint Bone, 


• 5. i6 


Thickness of Homy Frog, 


• 23 


Enlargement of, 


5. 6, 49 


Tieing Horses in Stables, . 


• 9 


Split Foot in Front, 


47 


Toe, Uses of the, . 


23 


Stables 


3.8 


Trotting Horse, 


. 55 


Stonehenge, . 


68 


Twisted Foot, 


. 5. " 


Stopping, 

Strength of Sole, . 
Stride of the Horse, . 
Strong Foot, Treatment of. 

Tendons, .... 


. 8 

II 

. S6 

. 76 

15.74 


Ulceration in Feet, . 
Use of Rasp, 
Uses of the Bars, 

Tendons, , , 


• 63 

. 78 

• 17 
17 


How Sprained, 


17 


Weak Foot, 


66,76 


Injury of, . 


. 17 


Weight of Shoe, . 


55 


Tender Footed Horses, 


. 64 


Wooden Floor, . , , 


. 8 


Thrush, Location of, 


33 








THE HORSE'S FOOT, AND HOW TO SHOE IT. 



CHAPTER T. 
General Remarks. 



In order to obtain the greatest amount of usefulness 
from horses, through endurance, speed, and physical 
strength, it behooves us to look closely to all things 
pertaining to their health, for without this they become 
useless ; and, above and beyond all of this, it is nothing 
more than humane to look after their welfare. If 
health is more easily preserved than restored, it is but 
wise and reasonable that we should always seek in time 
for the " ounce of prevention." 

How to prevent defects and diseases in horses, is 
really better than knowing the remedial agent with 
which they can be cured ; and, moreover, it very often 
happens that the drug administered to perfect a cure in 
the one case, becomes but a poison to insinuate another 
malady, worse even than the first. 

We cannot expect to see the greatest speed and 
endurance in a horse until he has attained full posses- 
sion of all his faculties; but these are neither developed 
in a single da}^ nor evei' perfected without special care 
and training during his tender years. Indeed, the man 
who expects his horse to work for him like a steam 
engine, can well afford, for humane as well as for com- 



2 The Horse's Foot, 

mercial reasons, to look well at all times to his general 
health. 

The foot is the foundation of the horse, and, as 
may be said, the foundation of his health ; for " no 
foot, no horse," is such a veritable truism, that the most 
casual observer would readily conclude without any 
explanation, that if the foot becomes affected or dis- 
eased, its usefulness would become impaired and the 
animal rendered untit to perform the services required 
of him by Nature. In fact, a horse without sound feet, 
is no horse at all. 

The foot of the horse is subject to so many dis- 
eases: — Founder, Laminitis, Thrush, Corns, Canker, 
Contraction, Ossification of the Cartilages, Navicular 
disease, etc., etc.; that it needs the greatest care and at- 
tention to preserve it healthy and sound — I say healthy 
and sound, because in a state of Nature it is thus, and 
if afterwards it is found diseased, the cause, in the ma- 
jority of cases, can be attributed to the smith's shoe and 
pruning knife, or to some fault of the owner. 

The facts here noted may be questioned in regard 
to diseases inherited, but still I plead that the care of 
the foot in the sire or dam may save that of the colt. 

It is a known fact that even acquired qualities, 
good or bad, whether from sire or dam, — whether from 
the immediate parents, or from their progenitors, — are 
easily transmitted to the offspring ; and as with good or 
bad points, so with diseases, even of the feet : the navic- 
ular disease itself not escaping, but having been in- 
herited, proof of which could be given, if necessary. 

If what we deem facts seems far-fetched, we ask 
you to contrast the endurance, speed, strength, and 
general health of the wild herds that flock in thousands 



And How to Shoe it. 3 

on the plains, in the freshness of their airy freedom — 
having Nature to care for and protect them — to the 
bedizzined looks, and shaky ankles and tremulous gait 
of our domesticated (?) brutes. 

The truth is, the sore-toed, ring-boned, and spavined 
horse of to-day is but too often the result of misman- 
agement. Contracted and thrush-eaten feet are caused 
by rickety, rotten, and stinking stables — and a score 
of other diseases, come from eating sour grain and 
musty hay — with nothing but poisonous air and water 
to breathe and drink. Of these we simply speak, and 
leave the rest to the doctors of veterinary science. We 
also leave them to speak of the curative properties of 
their pharmacopea as found in mercury, digitalis, ginger, 
camphor, salt-petre, iodide of potassium, oil of juniper, 
etc., etc., all of which, probably, have their place — but 
we shall try here only our " prevention " for the many 
diseases to which the foot is subject, believing in the 
remark before made, that it is easier to ■preserve the 
health of the horse's foot than it is to restore it. 

Again, we w^ould labor in behalf of the horse of 
all work ; for the low bred ; for the drudge of servants. 

The racers, pacers, and trotters of noble extraction 
already receive every care and attention that skill and 
understanding can bestow ; their owners know too well 
the cost-price of a good foot to think of neglecting it. 
But not so, sometimes, with the horse of all work. 
The " old plug," receives different treatment alto- 
gether. He is cursed into the harness in the morning 
and kicked out at night; is made to stand at post-hay 
oftentimes when he should have been turned loose in a 
ten-acre corn field; he gets no pet names and receives 
no gentle (?) taps. No Arab's foolishness is squan- 



4 The Horse's Foot, 

dered on him. He is " broke " to work — and generally 
broke with a vengeance. Club discipline brings on 
" old days " very fast, and he is soon to be forgotten for 
evermore. I think the mule was created especially for 
such horse-masters, as they (the masters) belong some- 
what to the pennyroyal stock themselves. They can 
play the statesman in politics, but are not wise enough 
to shelter a good horse from a cold, drizzling rain; to 
water him when thirsty, or to feed when he is hungry. 




And How to Shoe it. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Feet of Colts. 



If proper attention be 
given to the feet of horses in 
their colt-hood days, many 
of the ills that horse flesh 
is heir to, can be avoided; 
for it must be remembered 
that the majority of diseases 
in horses originate in the 
feet. 

One cause generally 
overlooked is the unnatural 
growth of the horn on one 
side of the ground surface 
of the foot. This surplus 
growth raises one side 

higher than the other, and cut of Bones taken from Nature to show 

. ^ . the effects of tilting the foot to one side. 

the foot becomes twisted a. i.-Coffm Bone, or Os-Pedls. 

^ . , , B- 2- — Nut Bone or Os-Navicnlare. 

out of its natural shape: C. s.-Small Pastem or Os-Coronae. 

r ^ D. 4. — Large Pastern or Os-Suffraginis. 

this also affects ankle and f; |;z|hTnrofc!=. 

k« • . • G. 7. — Small Metacarpals. 

neejoints causing a par- 
tial displacement of the bones within. It may be seen 
by reference to Fig. i the principle upon which this 
acts : 

Thus, in the ordinary-sized foot and leg, if one 
side of the foot is raised but one-fourth of an inch., the 
general displacement of the bones in the foot and knee 




Fig. I. 



Fig.2. 



6 The Horse's Foot, 

joint is so great as to throw them completely on to one 
side of the heads of their journals. A shoe raised at 
the outer heel only, produces the same results. This 
throwing of the weight to one side only, twists the foot 
of the horse the same as an old run-down boot does for 
the foot of man; but the one can pull off his boot at 
night and ease his aching foot, by morning; the other can 
not, his shoe is on for a month, and his boot-jack is 
down at the forge. 

If a calking be put on the outer heel to prevent 
the horse from slipping, either the horn of that heel 
should be lowered to a corresponding degree, or the 
outer heel of the shoe should be raised to the same 
level, by a gradual thickening. 

By further reference to Fig. 2 (see A) we see on 
that side where the weight is thrown, that there is a 
fungus growth of ossified cartilage. This bony growth 
is partly within the hoof and partly above the coronary 
band, and is one of the results of this lateral pressure; 
likewise the splint bone at F is both enlarged and 
lengthened, and the head of the journal on that side is 
slightly raised. We can now see the evil results, all 
the way from the foot to the knee; the ossification of 
cartilage has killed the nerve of the foot and made the 
shell hard, and brittle, and easy to crack; has produced 
splint, and has stiffened the foot to such a limited use 
of the joints, as to make motion almost impossible. 

By reference to Fig. 3 we can form a tolerably 
correct notion of what this destruction of cartilage, or 
the changing of the same into bony growth is. A, is 
the coffin-bone that fits closely into the hoof. B, shows 
the wings of the coffin-bone, and their cartilages ossified 
together. 



And How to Shoe it. 




Fig- 3- 

Ossified Cartilage. Cut taken 
from Nature. 
A — Coffin Bone. 

B — Cartilages and wings of the Coffin 
Bone Ossified. 



These cartilages, before mentioned, occupy a con- 
siderable portion of the external side and back part of 
the foot, and are so placed that, 
if an undue pressure or strain 
is brought to bear upon them, 
they will become inflamed, and 
that will lead to substitution 
of bone as fast as the cartil- 
age becomes absorbed. Most 
heavy draught horses have this 
change of structure before they 
arrive at old age. In a healthy 
state of the feet these cartilages will readily yield to the 
pressure of the fingers. They can be felt on either side 
of the foot on the coronet just above the quarters, but 
by degrees the resistance becomes greater, and when 
bone is formed, they will yield no more. 

In slight changes of structure the veterinary sur- 
geon may, by firing or blistering, arrest the disease; but 
when the whole part is changed to bone, it will be ex- 
ceedingly difficult to cure. In such 
a case a shoe rolled or beveled at the 
toe, will ease the foot over and take 
the strain off the joints. Such a shoe 
will also induce some action in the 
movement of the cartilages and ankle 
joints which is necessary to a free 
Fig. 4. flow of the blood; and, perchance, 

Nature being assisted, the health of the foot, in part, 
at least, may be restored; the nerve again quickened 
into life and the hoof be made to resume its tough and 
elastic condition, and in appearance regain its former 
shining, resolvent look. 




8 The Horse's Foot, 

This bony growth on the metacarpals and joints, is 
but the kind assistance Nature renders in some cases to 
avert calamities. For the weight of the horse superim- 
posed upon one side of the heads of the journals in 
their joints will induce friction, and finally fever and 
inflammation of the joints. The cannon bone and 
splint, now on that side, need assistance — and for this 
purpose they become united or anchylosed by the ex- 
ostosis of the ligamentous structure between — hence 
uniossification. 

Another cause of lameness, especially in the feet 
of colts, comes from improper stabling. No one should 
be persuaded to allow a colt to be stabled in a stall, 
the floor of which is made of wood. The feet of colts 
are fearfully subject to any extraneous influence, owing 
to their youth and tender years. In this immature state 
the feet will contract or expand very rapidly. If al- 
lowed to run at grass, the earth, with an occasional 
rain, or a morning dew, will keep the hoof elastic and 
tough and allow it to expand to meet its wants j but 
if kept on a wooden floor (a worse conductor than 
the earth), it will become hard and brittle and liable to 
contract; or if it is kept constantly wet by " stopping," 
there is danger of decomposing the soft covering of the 
frog, and thus waste it away. 

The best way to guard against feet becoming con- 
tracted or thrush-eaten, and at the same time prevent 
dampness, is to make a stable with mother earth as a 
flooring. Excavate say two feet deep and fill up half 
full with stones; then cobble stones three or four inches, 
then as much earth, and lastly, as much sand or bank 
srravel, and the floor is made. It is cheap— can't rot 
out, and at the same time the liquids will easily drain 



And How to Shoe it. 9 

through and leave no poisonous or ammoniacal gases 
behind. Feet thus stabled will need no dirty cow-dung 
stopping. 

There is also a pernicious practice of huddling 
a great many horses together in one stable (especially 
true in large cities), which necessitates their being tied 
or chained in some narrow stall. This very much cir- 
cumscribes their movements and impairs their spirits, 
if not their general health, by being thus doubly im- 
prisoned. A Bengal tiger is given more room to move 
around in, and why should such a docile animal as the 
horse be thus confined .f* 

Nature grants health only on condition that exercise 
be given, and, in fact, all animated matter proves by its 
incessant motion, that life only ceases when all elements 
are at rest — " We live by dying, and die by living." 

If you can not accommodate your stable to some- 
thing different from a prison cell, then do not permit 
your horse to stay in doors too long without exercise. 
Take him out frequently and let him have some fresh 
air, a little run, and a little play. It will do him good, 
as it will make him happy, and that will help to keep 
him healthy. 




10 



A Horse's Foot, 



CHAPTER IV. 

On Keeping the Ground Surface of 
THE Foot Level. 



Our plan is here to illustrate by cuts and otherwise 
the injurious effects of not keeping the foot always pared 



!k£^ 




level and straight. Mistakes of 
this kind are but too often the re- 
sult of ignorance on the part of 
the farrier, or in his not having a 
proper notion of the science in 
which he professes skill and un- 
derstanding. We have no hesi- 
tancy in calling it a science, and 
indeed, the man who shoes horses 
for the various diseases of the 
feet, has an implied profession of 
in the outset, of the 
anatomy of the horse's foot, and 
an acquaintance with the best methods on farriery for 
paring the hoof, and fitting it with a suitable shoe. 
Such a profession is by no means an indifferent one; 
it should be encouraged in some way by suitable legis- 
lation, until we could get more men at the forge who 
could shoe with brains as well as iron. To know how 
" to blow and to strike," is no proof against the diseases 
of the horse's foot. 

Mr. William Russell, a horse-shoer in this city, 
(we give cuts of horse shoes used by him in this book) 



Fig. 5. 
Cut of Colt's Foot. 
A B — Lines bisecting the foot 
C C — Lines enclosing the Frog 

and the Toe. 
HH-TheSole. , , . 

E E-TheBars. KnOWledSfe 

G G— The Frog. 
F F — The Commisseurs. 



And How to Shoe it. 11 

is one of the few farriers, East or West, that fully 
understands this science. His success at the forge has 
given him almost innumerable acquaintances throughout 
the whole country, and indeed, his services to the pro- 
fession will be enduring. He deserves the heart-felt 
thanks of every horse owner for founding this science 
upon strictly physiological principles. 

Mr. R.'s success lies principally in the simple fact 
of keeping the ground surface of the foot -perfectly 
level and straight —and in order to do this accurately, 
he takes measurements similar to those shown by the 
lines on the sole surface of the foot in the colt — also 
others — on the outside of the hoof, from the coronet to 
the ground surface. Lines in this way, showing meas- 
urements on both sides of the toe, quarters, and heel, 
enable him to properly level the sole surface, while 
those measurements taken on the sole surface show how 
to properly balance the foot all around. 

The cut (Fig. 5) represents the sole of a colt's 
foot, and is perfect and symmetrical in all of its parts. 
The lines show proportions of that perfect form and 
contour that Nature gives. The sole, the frog, the bars, 
the arch-like construction of the brace within formed 
by the cleft of the outer frog, being the work of Nature, 
are perfect. No construction could be devised by 
man, upon sound mathematical principles, that could 
give inch for inch, out of any material whatever, any- 
thing like the strength, the stability, and the protection 
against injury that this arrangement does. 

It is simply perfect, which means, in this connec- 
tion, that man should let it alone; and if, by accident or 
otherwise, it becomes injured, if anything then be done, 
it should be only to replace it in its natural normal state. 



12 



The Horse's Foot. 




Fig. 6. 

A — Point of Frog. 

A B and A C, lines show- 
ing improportions. 
(The nail holes in the 

sole indicated by the dark 

spots). 



Nature has curative processes within its own reach 
better than any prepared by man, and needs only assist- 
ance from him to perfect her own cures. 

To show more fully the evil effects of meddling 
with Nature, I will represent some of man's own hand- 
work for the sake of contrast. This 
is a cut that fully represents the igno- 
rance, or the assumption of the smith 
in believing that Nature could be ex- 
celled, at least, in the final finishing or 
" touching up processes." 

This cut represents the sole of an 
old servant, drawn from Nature, that 
probably did the easy, (?) slow work of 
a draught horse, rather than that of the 
hackney, or hunter. From appear- 
ances, judging the way his sole had been pared off, and 
punched out, and, from the twisted condition of his 
his foot, in all probability, for want of comeliness, 
alone, in his pedal extremities, this horse had to relin- 
quish his right to the title of " The Pet " a long while 
before he was released from his every day drudgery in 
his master's employ: — but now alas! he's gone, and his 
sole alone remains. 

We give a view of this same sole, (Fig. 7) and 
draw attention particularly to 
the long toe, the flat, open heel, 
and the diseased laminae. By 
cutting out the sole, opening up 
the heel, and lowering the foot 
on one side, more than on the 
other, the weight of the horse 
brought sufficient lateral pres- 




sure to disengage the sensitive 



Fig. 7.— Of the Foot. 
A— Diseased Laminae. B--Bars. 
C— Cleft of the outer Frog. 
D— The Long Toe. 



And How to Shoe it. 



13 



leaves connecting the one side of the coffin-bone to 
the inside of the hoof, and in that place stopped the 
growth of the foot — but the other side remaining 
healthy and active, continued to grow — and this is the 
cause of the twisted, crooked condition of the foot. 

In such cases, the smith could do much to assist 
Nature in getting the foot back into its original normal 
state, by first getting it as nearly level as possible, rasp- 
ing off all unnatural growth so as to get the foot, if 
possible, more evenl}' balanced on all sides, and short- 
ening up the toe. This, probabl}^, would evenly dis- 
tribute the pressure over the foot, and cause new horn 
and laminae to spring forth from the diseased sides. 

Raised Coronet. — This is one of the many re- 
sults of improperly leveling the foot on the ground sur- 
face, as reference to Fig. 8 shows. 
The evils resulting from this defect 
of the horn not having grown down 
sufficiently on one side, may be 
caused also by the coronary liga- 
ment becoming defective; but when 
the foot is tilted, and the pressure 
is brought to bear upon the one side, 
the ligament, if diseased, may be, 
and undoubtedly is, by this undue 
weight and strain, rendered so im- 
perfect as not to be able to secrete 
the horn. The cut, which was taken 
from Nature, speaks for itself, and 
shows the twisted condition of the 
foot, internally as well as on the 
outside. 

The shoe for raised coronet 
(Fig. 9) shows that the nailing should be on the side 




Fig. 8. 
Raised Coronet. 
A B — Showing the correct 
ground surface of the 
foot. . 




Fig. 9. 
Shoe for Raised Coronet, 
showing where to nail. 



14 



The Horse's Foot, 



opposite the raised coronet. This will leave a space 
between the shoe and foot, and allow the weight of the 
horse to gradually spring his foot to the shoe on that 
side and correct its shape. The hoof should be weak- 
ened by being rasped down on the side of raised coronet 
for that purpose. 




And How To Shoe it. 



15 



CHAPTER V. 



The Anatomy of the Foot. 



The Pasterns and their Joints. — On account of 
the horse's foot being subject to so much mismanagement, 
and so many diseases, 



it becomes necessary 
to understand the var- 
ious parts which enter 
into and compose its 
structure, before treat- 
ment can be intelli- 
gently given. These 
cuts will aid the reader 
materially in locating 
the organ, and in get- 
ting an idea of its 
functional office. 

It is not our pur- 
pose in these pages 
to go above the knee, 
and even of that com- 
plicated joint of seven 
bones, and cartilages, 
to say but little — suf- 
fice it to say, these 
bones are so arranged, each with a coating of cartilage, 
as to completely destroy concussions, and render the 
same harmless. 




Fig. 10. 
Cut of the Pasterns, Bones, Ligaments, etc. 

A — Coffin-bone, or bone of the foot. 

B — Navicular, or Shuttle bone. 

C — Lower or smaller Pastern Bone. 

D — Upper or larger Pastern Bone. 

E — Sessamoid Bone. 

F —Shank, or Common Bone. 

H — Tendon of the Perforating Flexor inserted into the 

Coffin Bone after having passed over the Navicular 

Bone. 
G — Extensor Tendon inserted into both the Pasterns 

and the Coffin Bone. 
L — The Sole. 
M— The Sensible Frog. 
P —The front part of the Hoof. 
O — The Sensible Laminae connecting Coffin Bone with 

inside of Coffin Box. 



16 The Horse's Foot, 

The part of the knee and fetlock consists of three 
bones: a large one, called the shank, or cannon bone; 
it is rounded in front and flattened behind; it is straight, 
and in some parts it is covered only with the skin. 
There are slight depressions at the upper head, to re- 
ceive the lower row of bones of the knee; but at the 
lower head there are three elevations: one at each side, 
and one principal in the center. Between these eleva- 
tions on the side and in the center, are two slight 
grooves, which correspond with the slight prominences 
in the upper head of the large pastern. 

This hinge-like joint between the shank and 
pastern admits of no lateral motion whatever. There 
are two smaller bones not seen in the cut, but placed 
behind the shank bone, and reach from one-half to two- 
thirds the way down that bone. We have spoken of 
these bones before (see Fig. i). The heads of these 
bones (splint) are enlarged, and receive part of the 
weight conveyed by the lower row of bones of the knee. 

The upper pastern bone (Fig. lo, D) forms a 
hinge joint with the shank, and in its lower head has 
two rounded protuberances, which are received into 
the depressions on the upper head of the lower pastern. 
The lower pastern is a short, thick bone, with larger 
head downward, resembling the lower head of the 
upper pastern, with its two prominences, by which it 
articulates with the coffin bone. The lower pastern, 
with the coffin bone, forms the coffin joint. The articu- 
lation of the pasterns with each other gives that of the 
pastern-joint, while that of the shank with upper pastern 
gives the fetlock-joint. 

The perforating tendon (flexor tendon) passes down 
between the splint bones (smaller metacarpals) through 



And How to Shoe it. 17 

a large mucous bag, and over the sessamoids, and is 
fastened into the lower pastern. A continuation of this 
tendon fastens itself into the under side of the coffin 
bone. The extensor tendon, as seen in the cut, is used 
in carrying the foot forward, the flexor tendon in bend- 
ing the foot. In speaking of the back sinews, Youatt 
says in substance: 

That " These tendons are inclosed in a sheath of 
dense, cellular substance; and when the horse has been 
overworked, or put to violent exertion, the tendon is 
made to press upon the delicate membrane lining the 
sheath, and inflammation is produced; a different fluid 
is thrown out, which coagulates; adhesions are formed 
between the sheath and the tendons; and the motion of 
the limb is more painful. At other times, from violent 
or long-continued exertion, some of the fibres which tie 
the tendons down are ruptured. A slight injury of this 
kind is called a strain of the back sineivs or tendons, and 
when more serious, the horse is said to have broken 
down^ " But," he adds, " it should be remembered that 
the tendon can never be sprained, because it is inelastic, 
and incapable of extension ; and the tendon and its sheath 
are scarcely ever ruptured, even in what is called 'break- 
ing down.' The injury is confined to the inflammation 
of the sheath, or a rupture of a few of the attaching fibres." 

The pasterns are united to the shank in an oblique 
direction — this necessitates part of the weight to be 
communicated to the little sessamoids to deaden a por- 
tion of the jar or concussion. These little bones have 
no other bone under them, and are fastened by a liga- 
ment (suspensory) that yields, so that when weight is 
brought, as seen in the downward movement of the 
foot, they descend or partly turn round with the pres- 



18 The Horse's Foot, 

sure, and return again to their usual place when the 
foot is raised. 

The length and obliquity of the pasterns vary, 
differing in the different breeds of horses. In propor- 
tion to the length and slanting direction of the pastern, 
so is the springiness of action. If the pastern is long, 
it must be oblique, or the fetlock would touch the 
ground in rapid motion. If the pastern is long and 
slanting, the greater will be the weight thrown on 
to the sessamoid bones, and the less on the pastern; 
and in that proportion, jar or concussion will be pre- 
vented by the obliquity of the bones. 

A slanting pastern is an excellence in the race 
horse; but he must have a good fetlock-joint, as the 
liability of that joint, and of the back sinews, to sprain, 
is greater in the oblique pastern. A less degree of 
obliquity is required in the hunter, and still less is neces- 
sary in the hackney; but the dra}' horse should have 
short, upright pasterns. This enables him to dig his 
toe into the ground, but it would not do, contesting in 
the race; neither would the racer get much toe-hold on 
a heavy pull with his long pastern. Thus a pastern, 
long or short, has its advantages, and also its corre- 
sponding disadvantages — for the very circumstance that 
enables the dray horse to throw himself into the collar, 
throws the race-horse down. 

This makes the short, upright pastern unsafe in the 
riding horse, even in ordinary work, as he is inclined to 
knuckle, and the jars and jolts to which he is exposed 
by every step he takes, will shortly induce disease in 
the feet and bones of the leg; but if the pasterns slope 
at too great an angle, as those of some animals do, the 
weight of the horse falls so far back on the foot, that 



And How to Shoe it. 19 

the bones do not help uphold the body, and the whole 
weight is thrown upon those tendons that run over the 
back part of the ankle-joints. This will speedily lead 
to a break-down. 

Touching the shape of the foot, the hoof should be 
longer on the ground surface than it is broad, and its 
breadth greatest directly across the center. 

The outer surface of the foot should be smooth 
and of fine texture, fi*ee from rings or protuberances. 
The proper angle of slant is about fifty degrees; if less 
than this, and the hoof is very deep at the heels, it is 
predisposed to contraction. The spryest and swiftest 
footed animals of the world have small, upright, horny 
hoofs. The Chamois, red-deer, antelope, and wild 
horse, all have this formation of the foot. 

The fore legs, as a whole, when examined from 
the front, should have the same space between, from 
the breast to the ground. When viewed from the side, 
they should be as nearly as possible perpendicular, the 
leg dropping straight from its junction with the shoulder 
to the ground; and the point of the toe should come 
as near as possible to a straight line under the point of 
the shoulder. Such a horse will not be a speedy 
cutter, but will go forward in a handsome, straightfor- 
ward manner. 




20 



The Horse's Foot, 



CHAPTER VI. 



The Perfect Foot. 




The foot is composed of the coffin box, and of 
the contents within that horny structure. The crust or 

wall is the outside part, and 
reaches from the termination of 
the hairs to the ground, the front 
part of which is called the toe; 
the posterior part, the heel; and 
the portions midway between the 
toe and heel, are called the quar- 
ters. A sound hoof, when placed 
upon the ground, ascends obliquely 
backward at an angle of about 
fifty degrees; but when it is more 
oblique than this, the crust is said 
to have fallen in; it also indicates 
an undue flatness of sole — but if the hoof is less ob- 
lique than this, the reverse is true, and it indicates a 
convex sole. 

If the angle of obliquity is more upright than what 
we have mentioned, it shows a contracted foot (see 
Figs. 13, 15, and 16) or a sole too concave. If the 
crust at the heel is high and deep, and the direction 
from the coronet to the ground surface be nearly per- 
pendicular at the toe, we may know that the foot is liable 
to contraction and thrush; and if the pastern is very 
slanting, and the heels are very low, the foot is liable to 



Fig. II. 
The Perfect Hoof. 
A A — Coronary substance. 

B — The little horny plates lin- 
ing the crust. 
C — Outer surface of crust. 
D D— The Bars. 

E — That which externally is the 

the cleft of the frog. 
G— The cleft of the frog. 




And How to Shoe it. 21 

be weak and subject to navicular disease. Thus, many 
things may be learned about the hoof, by simply looking 
at it as it rests on the ground. 

We give in the annexed cut a hoof, answering to 
some of the above descriptions. In it may be seen the 
high heel, short toe, and the falling 
in of the crust in front. In the 
perfect foot, the crust is about one 
half an inch thick at the toe; but 
it becomes gradually thinner to- 
wards the quarters and heels, it not 
being at that part, more than a 
quarter of an inch in thickness. 

The inner quarter is not as thick as the outer, because 
more weight is thrown on it than upon the outer 
quarter. It is more under the horse — and especially 
under the splint bone, on which so much of the weight 
of the horse rests; but, while it is tjiinner, it is 
able to expand more, and avoid injury by concussion. 
If the shoe is nailed solidly to the inner quarter, so as 
to prevent expansion of the horn, at that place, it must 
suffer — corns are often found there; sand-crack begins 
there ; and it is there, that the hoof begins to contract 
first. 

On account of the thinness of the inner quarter, 
the horn, at this place, wears away faster than it does 
at the outer; but the smith seems to forget this, and 
frequently takes off with his knife an equal portion all 
round; it seldom becomes necessary to remove anything 
from the inner heel. 

The coronary band is the superior border seen at 
A, in Fig. ii. It resembles, on its external surface, 
the crust below, but internally, it is smoothly excavated. 



22 The Horse's Foot, 

It is found intervened between the skin of the leg and 
the hoof. It has a secretory surface on the edge to- 
wards the hoof, and is abundantly supplied with arteries 
and blood vessels, from which this ligament, together 
with the laminse, secretes the hoof. 

The secretion is formed in little cells, which are 
arranged in layers, corresponding with the secretory 
surface. This accounts for the growth of the crust 
being downward, and the reason why the nail-holes 
grow out instead of growing up. The constant growth 
of the horn is also a provision against the wear and tear 
of the hoof of an unshod horse, and also makes it 
necessary for those feet that are shod to have shoes 
removed every three or four weeks, at farthest, and the 
horn that has been newly grown (and which would 
have been worn away by contact with the ground) re- 
moved with the knife. 

The several parts of the hoof of which we will 
speak, are, ist, the Crust or Wall, (of which we have 
spoken); 2d, the Sole; 3d, the Frog; 4th, the Bars; 5th, 
the Sensible Laminae; 6th, the Coffin Bone; 7th, the 
Navicular Bone. 

The coffin-box of the hoof consists of but three 
distinct parts: the wall or crust, the sole, and the, frog. 

The sole is the slightly concaved surface at the 
bottom of the hoof, the thickness of which is about 
one-sixth of an inch — but it varies in different horses. 
It is fixed to the inner edge of the crust, and to the 
outer edge of the bars. It is secreted in plates from 
the internal surfaces of the hoof; and in this differs from 
the wall, as it is, in the form of bristly fibres or hairs, 
agglutinated together. The sole is also fibrous, but is 
deposited in layers, and is easily separated into scales; 



And How to Shoe it. 23 

those in the crust or wall lie in straight lines, descend- 
ing: from the coronet to the s^round. 

The fibres of the horny frog are finer and in not 
such a quantity as in the sole or wall. The sole is, as 
we have said, about one-sixth of an inch in thickness; 
but it is thicker at the toe and along the crust where 
it unites with the outer wall — for the weight of the 
coffin-bone is thrown on this part. 

The reason that it is hollow or concave, is plain: 
as the descent of the weight requires a gradual descent 
or yielding of the sole, so as to lessen the shock, which 
would be injurious, if not, by this arrangement, dead- 
ened or destroyed. A flat sole already presses upon the 
ground. Of flat feet we will again speak — here we 
will simply remark, that no shoe should be put on that 
will destroy this descent of the sole: for if a shoe 
presses upon the sole, the part that touches the shoe, in 
its descent, will be bruised, and cause inflammation. 

The bars are but continuations of the crust reflected 
by an acute angle at the heel, and brought together at 
the toe of the frog. These bars form an arch on either 
side between the frog and the quarters, to limit the 
proper extent and expansion of the foot. It is done by 
their widening, and shortening at each up and down 
movement of the foot, to admit of the expansion of the 
quarters. Although the outer crust is thickest at the 
toe, yet, by the admirable arrangement of these bars, 
the heel is the strongest part of the foot, and will admit 
of the shoe being nailed solidly here, instead of at the 
toe, as is usually done at the present time. The toe is 
for the horse to spring from, and the heel to land on; but 
if, in every case, it is nailed solidly to the toe, it will 
spring off" of the heel, and produce lameness. The cuts 



24 The Horse's Foot, 

of shoes given show where to nail in each case. We 
can also see the use of these bars, in keeping the outer 
wall from wiring in, or contracting. They are also 
useful in affording a protection to the frog, for if de- 
prived of this guard, it will become elevated and 
thrushy. 

The frog is a triangular substance that fills up 
the space between the bars. Above the horny frog is 
an elastic substance called the sensible frog. The 
longitudinal fissure reaching half way down is called 
the cleft; inwardly it forms a brace, which adds strength 
to the heel. 

The uses of the frog are many; we will simply 
enumerate a few. It must have occasional pressure, or 
contact on the ground, to keep it, and all surrounding 
parts, in a healthy condition. It is a covering and a 
defense to the sensitive frog; it is used, also, in the ex- 
pansion of the foot, when part of the weight of the 
horse is thrown upon it. It is composed of a substance, 
peculiarly flexible and elastic, so as to yield and return 
again, to a natural state, when weight is thrown on and 
taken off. When the foot touches the ground, it 
seldom does so flush, but in a direction forward, as well 
as downward; and the frog, in a manner, ploughs into 
the ground, and gives safety to the tread of the animal. 

By a dangerous practice among some smiths, the 
frog is cut off too much; and this lifts it above the 
ground, and thus destroys its principal use. It should 
just come within the level of the shoe, so that, by an 
occasional contact with the ground, it may obe}^ a law 
of Nature and discharge its natural function. The 
frog, as well as the bars, should be left intact. It is a 
practice with too many smiths to tear down the bars, 




And How to Shoe it. 25 

and cut away the frog: nothing is more dangerous to 
the health and the strength of the foot than this. 

The coffin bone is the proper bone of the foot, 
fitting in and filling the fore part of the coffin-box. It 
is filled with little holes, and is 
very light and spongy. Through 
these little holes the blood vessels 
pass and carry on the circula- 
tion, and the various secretions for 
the foot. This is a beautiful pro- F'g- 13- 

. . r -Kr • 1 • 1 Hoof, with Coffin Bone In- 

vision 01 JNature, considering the serted 

, . , . ^ (For Coffin Bone separate, see 

manner in which important surfaces, F'& 3). 

A — Coffin Bone. 

around and below it, are to be B-wmg of coffin Bone. 
nourished with blood; and yet so arranged that no in- 
convenience can arise from occasional pressure. 

The sensible laminae connect this bone to the 
little horny leaves or fibres on the inside of the coffin 
box, we have before mentioned. Its upper surface is 
concave for the lower h-ad of the pastern, and its 
under surface is hollowed out for the convexity of the 
internal part of the sole. On the surface of this bone 
are fleshy cartilaginous leaves, called sensible laminae, 
six hundred and ninety in number. These little leaves 
have feeling, and are received within horny plates (see 
B, Fig. 11) on the inside of the coffin-box. These 
horny plates extend all around the inside of the crust, 
and reach from the coronet to the sole. They are se- 
creted from, and produced by, the fleshy leaves; and 
their union with each other being so strong, no violence 
can easily separate them. They support the weight of 
the horse when at rest. To show this, experiments have 
been made, and the sole, frog, and bars have been re- 
moved entirely, and yet, as the horse stood, the coffin 



26 The Horse's Foot, 

bone did not protrude, nor touch the ground; but when 
the horse is in rapid motion, these fleshy leaves lengthen 
and suffer the coffin bone to descend and press upon 
the sole. In the upward movement of the foot, they 
contract again. This ascension and descension is an 
admirable mechanism for the destruction of violent 
shocks and concussions; for it eases the weight up 
and down the same as so many springs would do, and 
gives safety, as well as comfort, to the animal. 

Another very important fact should not go unmen- 
tioned, in regard to the functions of these sensible 
laminae. It is this: The outer sole-bearing surface is 
not more than twenty-five or thirty square inches, in 
the ordinary foot, but, by a little arithmetical calcula- 
tion, we see that a hoof, of the same size, is supported 
by an actual surface of three hundred and forty-five 
inches for contact. 

Let us calculate : There are six hundred and 
ninety fleshy leaves-^ received within horny plates — 
each of which is one-eighth of an inch deep, at least; 
each leaf has two surfaces, and will suppose each to be 
on an average, two inches in length; which would give 
us 690 X 2 X %== 345 square inches. 

Besides the cofBn bone, the navicular bone, and 
part of the coronet or lower pastern, is found in the 
coffin-box. 

The nut, or navicular bone (Fig. i, B), is a small 
bone which, with the two named, forms the coffin joint. 
It is covered with a delicate membrane, very liable, 
upon the least injury, to become inflamed. The sligh- 
est disease of this membrane will render the horse 
lame, and generally, for life. The flexor tendon (Fig. 
10, H) passes under this bone. It may be remarked, 



And How to Shoe it. 27 

however, that this bone, situated as it is — being pro- 
tected on all sides — is not so liable to become injured, 
as many writers suppose. It being so deep seated, 
however, makes the cure almost impossible, when it is 
diseased. 

The sensitive sole is situated between the coffin 
bone and the horny scale. It secrets the horn of the 
outer sole, and assists in preventing concussions. It is 
very sensitive, and the pressure by the shoe on the 
outer sole will cause bruises and inflamation of the 
sensitive sole. 

The sensible frog lies just under the horny frog, 
occupying the whole of the back part of the foot. The 
front part is attached to the inferior part of the coffin 
bone, and further back, to the lower part of the carti- 
lages of the hull. It is a soft mass, partly tendinous 
and partly ligamentous. 

The sensitive sole and the sensitive frog play an 
important part in the expansion of the foot. The 
sensitive frog is an elastic bed upon which the navicu- 
lar bone and flexor tendon can play with security. As 
the sole descends, the width of the lower part of the 
foot is increased, but this presses the sensitive frog out, 
and up — by the action of the navicular bone and 
tendon. The lateral cartilages of the foot are thus 
preserved — by the prevention of compression, which 
would ensue, were not the frog capable of such com- 
pression and rising. 

A recent writer, in speaking of sensitive sole, says: 
" The use of the sensitive sole is to assist the horse, by 
the sense of touch, in placing his foot to the ground in 
such a way as to favor it, and to feed the outer sole 
with the material of which it is made." 



28 The Horse's Foot, 

The sense of touch to which I have alluded is a 
most essential power to the horse, for it enables him, 
in the very act and instant of placing his foot to the 
ground, to do just what all boys do when running with 
bare feet, viz.: favor that side, or section of the 
foot, upon which, by reason of the inequality of the 
ground, undue pressure is brought. It is not by his 
eyes that a boy saves his feet from contusion; there is 
a power located in his foot, a power of interpreting 
danger before it has become dangerous, by which, 
although his foot has actually struck the ground, he is 
nevertheless, able to throw the weight off from that 
section of the foot, which is being unduly exposed. A 
horse, in one sense, does feel his way along. The weight 
of his body is thrown upon this side of his foot, or that, 
this end or that, just as he feels the necessity of it; and 
this lightning-like adjustment of his weight according 
to the feeling of his foot, is caused by the action of a 
sense so quick, that it is done after the foot has actually 
come into contact with the ground. It is by this inner 
or sensitive sole, that the secretions which feed the outer 
sole are deposited. On the other hand, the outer sole 
has for its use the work ofprotecting the inner sole, both 
from contact with the ground and also with the atmos- 
phere. This atmospheric contact, results in absorbing 
the natural moisture, until it becomes dessicated or 
parched, so that great cracks and rents appear in it, as 
a farmer in August, on a clay bottom, finds great rents 
and cracks in the soil. In short, the outer sole is Nature's 
shield and Nature's stuffmg for the inner sole, to ward 
off on the one hand, the blows that might otherwise 
smite it ; and on the other hand to keep its juices, by 
means of which the sole of the foot is being supplied 



And How to Shoe it. 29 

with needed nutrition from being dried up. At this 
point, we may properly inquire, if this is the use and 
office of the outer sole, if it holds such an important rank 
in the order of natural provision for the sound condition 
and healthy growth of the foot, why is it ever pared 
away ? 

This is my answer: The reason is, because the 
people are ignorant, and blindly follow a stupid and 
barbarous custom, instead f^f pausing to reflect upon 
what they are doing. 

Ask any smith why he pares out the sole of a foot, 
and he can give you no reason, save that he had been 
taught to do so. And who, pray, taught him ? Some 
one as ignorant as he, I reply. And so generation after 
generation, a barbarous and indefensible act, has been 
committed, to the premature breaking-down of man}' 
valuable horses, the actual maiming of not a few, and 
the painful torturing of some. 

No form of flesh is more sensitive to pain, than the 
inner substance of a horse's foot. Its powers of sensi- 
tiveness is like that which lies sleeping under a human 
finger-nail. To protect this from hurt and undue pres- 
sure, nature has put this hard horny shield, viz.: the 
outer sole; and yet I have sat and seen an ignorant smith 
hack and hew away this natural protection, until he 
could actually indent it with his fingers, and little drops 
of blood oozed forth from within. I imagine the feelings 
of the horse, after having been put into the shafts. He 
was driven forth into the dust and gravel of the streets, 
or sent pounding along a stone pavement with nothing 
but the thinnest possible filament of horn substance left 
between the exquisite inner organization of the foot, and 
the dirt, gravel, and stones on which he was traveling. 



30 The Horse's Foot. 

And yet this method of procedure, is not only tolerated 
by gentlemen of wealth and character, but vindicated 
and held up as the model (?) method of preparing the 
foot, for the emergencies of actual service. 

Horn is a slow conductor of heat and cold, and 
when thick, retains moisture for a long time, and the 
flakes which are attached to the solid horn, act as a nat- 
ural "stopping" to the hoof by accumulating and retain- 
ing moisture beneath. In addition to this, every flake 
acts more or less, as a spring, in warding off" bruises, or 
other injuries to the sole ; and thus the floor of the 
horny box is protected from injury internally and exter- 
nally. Yet, the farrier, following out the routine of his 
craft, injudiciously pares the sole, until it springs to 
the pressure of his thumb. 

The immature horn thus denuded and stripped of 
its outer-covering, immediately begins to experience the 
evil effects of external influences. It loses its moisture, 
dries, hardens, and shrivels up. It occupies a smaller 
space, and in doing so, the sole become more concave, 
drawing after it the wall. The stays against contraction 
are taken away, and the quarters and heels becomes 
narrowed, and the horse can not but go lame, even on 
smooth ground. 

It must be remembered, also, that the secreting ap- 
paratus of the sole being deranged, new horn will form 
slowly, so much so, that, before the amount has been 
sufficient to compensate for the old, taken away, the 
horse must be re-shod, when this part must again be 
robbed through this senseless paring. 

" Seeing therefore, the natural provision existing in 
the sole of the hoof for its diminution in thickness, 
when necessary, and knowing that the intact sole, is the 



And How To Shoe it. 31 

best safe-guard against injury and deterioration to this 
region, it must be laid down as a rule in farriery, and 
from which there must be no departure. That this part 
is not to be interfered with on any pretense, so long as 
the foot is in health, not even the flakes are to be dis- 
turbed. 

Paring the Frog. — On this subject I feel I can 
not do better than quote what is given us by a good 
writer on the subject. He says: 

" This part of the hoof is that which, in the opinion 
of grooms and coachmen, most requires cutting, to 
prevent its coming on the ground, and laming the horse; 
and this reason, together with its soft texture, causes it 
to be made the sport of the farrier's relentless knife. 
It is artistically and thoroughly trimmed, the fine, 
elastic horn being sliced away — sometimes even to the 
quick, and, in its sadly reduced form, it undergoes the 
same changes as have been observed in the pared sole. 
No wonder, then, that it cannot bear touching the 
ground any more than the sole. Strip off the skin of a 
man's foot and cause him to travel over stony or pebbly 
roads; would he walk comfortably or soundly.^ " 

Lafosse, in 1754, wrote: 

" The frog is composed of soft and compact horn, 
spongy and elastic in its nature, and serves as a cushion 
to the tendon — Achilles. It ought to bear full}^ on the 
ground as much for the facility as for the safety of the 
horse, when in movement." " It is," he adds, " the 
natural -point (Tappui of the flexor tendon." Some 
have supposed, that another use of the frog, was to ex- 
pand the heels of the foot. They have an idea that it 
acts like a wedge, driven in between the bars of the 
foot, and that at every shock it receives, when brought 



32 The Horse's Foot, 

in contact with the ground, it is driven home, as it 
were, causing the walls and bars of the hoof to expand 
laterally. This lateral-expansion theory is at variance 
with good authority." 

Murray says: 

" It's a humbug. No knife should touch the sole 
of your horse's foot; nor the least bit of it be pared away. 
Nor to the frog; Nature never provides too much of it 
to answer the purpose for which the Creator designed 
it — and the larger it is, the more easily, swiftly, and 
safely your horse will go." 




A£{D How TO Shoe it. 33 



CHAPTER VII. 
Thrush. 

This disease is located in the frog of the foot, and 
is caused, sometimes, by letting the horse stand in 
moist dung; or by long, continued, and extensive ap- 
plication of " stopping"; or frequent wetting the feet 
in water, as a remedy for brittle hoofs. 

If the thrush be neglected, it will become chronic, 
and affect the whole foot. The frog will shrivel up, 
the foot will contract, and the horse will go on his toes, 
to favor his heels. 

Sometimes the frog will become inflamed, and 
then, instead of secreting sound horn, it will secrete a 
spongy substance; and, in this case, it will feel hot to 
the touch — will become very ragged, and smell foul. 

Thrush occurs in contracted feet, which is due to 
he chronic inflammation of the sensible frog, and is 
brought on by improper shoeing; or neglect of properly 
paring the heels or surplus horn away, on the sole sur- 
face of the foot. 

In bad cases, the sides of the horny frog have sep- 
arated, so that by wiping out the foul discharge, the 
diseased sensible sole can be seen; and where the dis- 
ease is very bad, and the sensible laminae itself has be- 
come affected, it is with difficulty a cure can be effected. 

The hind feet are more liable to this disease than the 
front ones, because, in our stable management, they are 
more exposed to the pernicious influences of dung and 



34 



The Horse's Foot, 



urine. In the fore feet, thrush is usually connected with 
contraction. 

Remedy. — The frog should be kept dry, and the 
crevices thoroughly cleaned out and tilled with pledgets 
of tow, dipped in warm tar, every day. 
The tar will keep the horn supple as 
it grows. The foot should be pared 
down level and straight, lowering the 
heels, in case of contraction, to let the 
frog come down, if possible, so that it 
will receive some little pressure from 
the ground. Or the bar shoe (Fig. 14) 
may be used, applying some degree of 
pressure, by means of the tow, which may be stuffed in, 
so as to compress the frog; beginning with slight pres- 
sure, and increasing it as the new horn grows. 

A thrushy foot, should receive erery atttention 
needed, until the frog be restored. 




Fig. 14. 
The Bar Shoe. 




And How to Shoe it. 86 




CHAPTER VIII. 

Outer Contraction. 

This subject invariably has been treated with in- 
difference. The real trouble has been in not discrim- 
inating between the harmless effects 
of many feet contracted outwardly, 
and others contracted inwardly. 
We give cuts of these deformed 
feet, which will show fully wherein 
the trouble lies in the one case, and ^. 

how the harmless effects are pro- outer contraction. 
duced in the other. By reference ^^zEfneVsUwl'Vowhat 

, TT>" 1 1 _r ^ X 1 degree contracted. 

to r ig. 15, we have a hooi contracted 

outwardly, as seen in the cut. The horn on the ground 

surface, (C C), is wired in, so that the foot is larger 

around the coronet, or at B, B, than it is on the sole 

surface. By contrasting it with the perfect foot, we find 

that the heels are closed in too much, but on the sides, 

or lateral parts, the foot does not seem compressed, so 

we would infer that the wino^s of the coffin-bone and car- 
s' r 

tilages thereto, are intact, or if any undue pressure has 
been communicated to the bones, cartilages and nerves 
within, the change in the position of the coffin-bone, has 
been such as to accommodate itself to this pressure, 
without detriment, and such we find to be true upon in- 
vestigation. 

The tendency with feet contracted outwardly, is to 
walk on the toes. This tip-toeing it along, soon wears 



36 The Horse's Foot, 

down the front part of the foot, and gives us this unnat- 
ural shape. Small feet are more liable to contract than 
large ones, and especially, when the heels are not strong. 

Smiths are sometimes to blame for not paring off 
the surplus horn of the wall, on the ground surface. 
I have seen the frog deeply imbedded an inch and a 
half above the ground surface, and the encircling horn, 
so grown, that when the foot was inverted, it looked like 
a minature wash-tub, having the under surface of the 
sole for a bottom, placed about one-half way down. 

Then, again, the trouble is sometimes produced by 
the smith paring out the sole ; for, when it becomes 
thin, it loses its moisture, and having done so, it acquires 
hardness. Then the new flakes begins to exfoliate, or 
peel off, and the sole becomes denuded of its protection, 
and exposed to external injury. When the horn is thus 
stripped of its outer covering, it begins to experience 
the evil effects of external influences by losing its moisture 
becoming hardened, and finally, shriveling up. 

This shriveling up, will confine all parts to a 
smallf"'- 3pace, and in doing so, the sole will become more 
concave, drawing after it the outer wall, the foot will 
decrease in size, and the quarters and heels will wire in. 

If the unshod foot be left run at grass, the surplus 
horn will be disposed of by the wear and tear of friction 
alone, the frog will descend, and the foot, by Nature's 
curative processes, bekepthealthy,butif the smith gouges 
out the frog and tears down the bars at each shoeing, 
by the time he fully perfects what Nature has left unfin- 
ished, the hoof is so mutilated, and hewed away, it can 
not but contract. There is no mischief done in cutting 
away the foot when done properly. " Mischief is only 
the result of improper paring," says Blaine. For the 



And How to Shoe it. 



37 



hoof is continually growing, the crust is continually 
lengthening and the sole is thickening. Such is a wise 
provision for the foot, in an unshod state, but when the 
foot is protected by a shoe, and none of the horn can 
be worn away by coming in contact with the ground, 
its growth continues, the horn gets high, the sole thick, 
the frog elevated, so that the descension of the sole and 
the expansion of the heels are prevented, and contrac- 
tion is the inevitable result. 

The smith could lessen the evil, if not prevent it 
altogether, by carefully lowering the heels at each shoe- 
ing — and this should be done once in every three weeks; 
and no shoe should be kept on the hoof longer than 
that time before being re-set. 

The expanding shoe (see Fig. i6) is used by Mr. 
Russell for outer contraction. The plan can be easily 
understood by an examination of the 
cut. The heels of the shoe are 
sprung together as much as the foot 
is required to be expanded; then 
fastened with the clasp C, and nailed 
on the foot; after which the clasp is 
removed, and the foot will gradually 
expand until the shoe regains its 
natural shape. By this shoe the 
heels are not forced asunder at the 
expense of total separation of the 
portions within, but in a gradual 
manner, until the foot assumes its 
natural form. This gives a chance for new laminre 
(if diseased) to grow, and the bones within to correctly 
adjust themselves to their new positions. 




Fig. i6. 
The Expansion Shoe. 
A — Showing how it is weak- 
ened by holes in the web. 
B B — Holes into which the 

clasp C is fastened. 
C — Clasp used to hold the 
heels together when they 
are sprung up. 



33 



The Horse's Foot, 




CHAPTER IX. 

Inner Contraction. 

The most mischievous results follow in contracted 
feet, when the lateral walls or sides of the foot are com- 
pressed, as seen in the annexed cuts. 
The hoofs, in these cases, have been 
neglected, and, in consequence, the 
outside crusts, just below the coroaet, 
contracts and spreads itself on the 
^'^■/^■.- ground, until it has become like an 

Inner Contraction. o ' 

I, ^~P^ ^°'°"?,' . inverted butter-dish. The compres- 

B B— Crust or wall compressed. -i 

'^^"Tot^t ^'""""^ '"'^'" °^sion, in Fig. 17 is simply on the sides 

of the foot; in Fig. 18, the heels, as 

well as the lateral walls, are wired in. 
In either case, the compression differs 
from that of outer contraction, in 
being midway between coronet and 
ground surface, instead of at the 
ground surface. 

Inner contraction, is serious, in- 
asmuch as the wings of the coffin-bone, the lateral car- 
tilages of the foot, and nerves coursing along each 
artery, suffer by compression. When the nerve of the 
foot is touched, the life of the foot is endangered; and 
when the nerve becomes destroyed, the foot itself be- 
comes dead, not only changing the tough living crust, 
without, to a lifeless, brittle mass, but also the bones 
within to a like condition. The cartilages will ossify for 
want of nutriment, and the joints will lose their action. 
The compression of the lateral wall will also change 




Fig. i8. 
Inner Contraction, 
A B — Showing the twisted heel 
wired in. 



And How to Shoe it. 39 

the position of the bones within the foot. The heel of 
the coffin-bone, will in many cases become raised, and 
will incline to the perpendicular, but this results in 
simply pulling the toe of this bone, away from the in- 
side toe of the coffin-box. This disengages the sensible 
laminae at that point, and Nature starts a fungus growth 
of horn, in the diseased laminae, to assist the weakened 
torn-down sensible. This partial and unnatural erection 
of the coffin-bone at the heel, throws the weight of the 
horse on the outside heel of the hoof which, in inner 
contraction squelches the heels outwards, and permits 
an increase in the length of the toe, by this morbid fun- 
gus growth before mentioned. 

Again, in proportion to the height or neglected 
growth of the ground surface of the foot, it will close in 
around the coronet. A horse having low heels, at grass, 
with a hoof kept elastic and supple, by the natural moist- 
ure of the ground, like the unshod colt, with liberty to 
run, will never have contracted feet ; but if shod, and 
then stabled on wooden floors, the hoof become hard 
and brittle, and thrush sets in as a consequence, and if 
the smith gets a hack now and then at the bars and frog, 
with his knife, contraction will ensue. 

Shoeing is undoubtedly a necessary evil, but this 
kind of work of tearing down bars and leveling frogs of 
a contracted foot, is curing a disease, "with a ven- 
geance," before a horse has it. The bars are the main 
impediment to contraction. The frog, of course, should 
be left untouched, but the toe should be rasped short, 
the heels lowered and the quarters weakened, and the 
horse be turned out with tips — only at first — and after- 
wards, shod with the expanding shoe, and be put to light 
work only. It will take some skill, time, and care to 
effect cures in bad cases. 



40 



The Horse's Foot, 



CHAPTER X. 
Founder, or Laminitis. 




Founder and fever of the feet consists in inflamnria- 
tion of the parts between the crust or wall and pedal 

bone, including the 
laminae connecting 
the coffin bone (ped- 
al) to the inside of the 
hoof. This space is 
so small that any in- 
flammation whatever 
will be accompanied 
with great pain. 

There are several 
causes of founder. It 
a horse be ridden or 
driven hard, be suf- 
fered to stand in the 
cold, or if his feet be washed and not properly dried, he 
is very likely to have fever in the feet; also the mechani- 
cal irritation of hard roads, on feet not used to them; 
or sometimes by long confinement in a standing position, 
will induce the disease. The sudden change from cold 
to heat (the same as from heat to cold) is also danger- 
ous. Also, it must be remembered that, by our system of 
shoeing, the laminae is made to support the whole weight 
of the body, so as to prevent the frog from touching 
the ground, which greatly assists in inflaming the sen- 
sitive laminae by so much pounding and concussion. 



Fig. 19. 
Section of the Foot. 
A — Coffin Bone. 

B — Coronet or lower Pastern Bone, 
C — Upper Pastern. 
D— Outside crust or shell of foot. 
E — Space between coffin bone and crust of foot. 
F — Sole bulged out, showing flat foot. 



And How to Shoe it. 41 

The early symptoms of the fever in the feet are 
shown by the frequent changes of position of the fore- 
legs, as the horse is fidgety, and is constantly shifting 
the weight from foot to foot. The pulse becomes 
quickened, and the horse shows by his countenance and 
by his moaning, that he is in great pain. If he should 
lie down, soon after the first attack of the disease, it will 
show that the feet are inflamed instead of the lungs. 
The horse, generally is obstinate, however, and persists 
in standing until he drops from mere exhaustion, and 
when lying down, so much relief is obtained, that it be- 
comes difficult to get the horse again on to his feet, 
where the weight would painfully distend the little in- 
flamed leaves, or, little sensible plates. 

If the feet are hot, and the horse suffers great pain, 
no great time will pass before he will be unable to get 
up, or if raised on to his feet, drop at once from the in- 
tensity of pain. 

Bleeding at the toe freely, is indispensible. Butwe 
leave the treatment to the veterinary surgeon, who 
should be called immediately. 

The cure is not an easy one, and the loss of the hoof 
is not unfrequent; and, although a new hoof may be 
formed, it will be smaller in size and weaker than the 
first, and will not stand much hard work. 

The sensible and horny plates, in consequence of 
the intense inflammation, will have lost much of their 
elasticity; and, in consequence, the 
cofUn bone will drop unsupported 
on the sole and produce 

Flat or Pumiced Feet. — 
By reference to Fio^. lo or to Fiff. 

•^ ■ ^ y & Fig. ao. 

20, we see the sole flattened or even section of Foot, showing Drop 
convexed, showing that the cofRn 




42 



The Horse's Foot, 



bone has been thrown on the sole, in consequence of 
the sensible laminae not having strength to support the 
weight of the horse. 

For a badly diseased flat foot, there is no cure — 

all that can be done is 
by shoeing. Nothing 
must project upon the 
pumiced part; and if 
the sole should have 
descended much, this 
shoe, with a wide web 
(see cut) beveled off 
so as not to press upon 
the part, can be used 
to advantage. 




Fig. 21. Fig. 22. 

Shoes for Flat Feet, showing where to nail. 




And How to Shoe it. 43 

CHAPTER XL 
Corns. 

Corns are often times caused by improper paring, 
and leveling the foot, which throws the weight to one 
side. The pressure brought in this way, if upon the 
sole, under the back part of the heels of the coffin bone, 
will cause a bruise, hence the corn. 

Contracted feet are seldom without corns, because 
that part of the sole between the angle formed by the 
bars and the outside crust, is so squeezed as to become 
inflamed. Contraction is occasioned, it will be remem- 
bered, by tearing down the bars, and opening up the 
heels, and which will cause the sole to be bruised at 
this place. 

When the pressure on the sole is sufficient to pro- 
duce irritation, a small quantity of blood is forced out, 
and the horn then secreted, is in a less quantity, and ot 
a more spongy nature, and this blood becomes enclosed 
in it. 

Sometimes corns are caused by permitting the shoe 
to remain on the foot too long, when it becomes imbed- 
ded in the heel, the external crust grows down on the 
outside of it, and the bearing is thrown on this angular 
portion of the sole. Sometimes the shoe becomes 
loosened at the heels, and corns or bruises are caused by 
the stone or gravel insinuating itself between the shoe 
and the crust, and every step the horse takes causes 
friction on the sole. The same efl^ect is produced when 
the shoe is nailed only on the toe, and allowed to spring 
otf of the heels. The shoe should be fit snugly up to 



44 



The Horse's Foot, 




Fig. 23. 
Centennial Shoe. 
A A— Wings at the heel of 
shoe to rest on the bars 
of the foot. 



the wall all round, then if the feet are pared level and 
straight, giving a level sole bearing surface, there will 
not be so much danger of the horse having corns. 

The centennial shoe (see Fig. 23) has been used 
for corns, the intention of the projecting wings being 
to throw the pressure on the wall 
and bars, the same as the unshod 
hoof does. But the difficulty in the 
use of this shoe is this: the foot being 
concave, the angle formed by the 
crust and bar, must be cut down low, 
to let the wings of the shoe rest on 
the bars of the foot; this weakens the 
heel. Then, too, if pressure should 
come upon this part of the shoe, and 
it becomes bent, most serious trouble will arise; the 
same as would be in the case of a stone between the 
shoe and the foot. 

Another trouble arises sometimes, by making any 
shoe used too short, for in this case, after the foot grows 
a little, the heel of the shoe gets within the angle of 
crust and bar, and by the constant friction, soon makes 
a callous spot. 

The corn should be dug out until you come to the 
blood, and then be burnt out with a pointed hot iron, to 
create a different sore, after which a little salve of some 
kind, as pitch, or tar, should be put in, and a long shoe 
put on, to cover the braces, but ease the pressure on the 
callous heels, to keep off the pricking, or pressing 
against the tender portions of the foot. 

The centennial shoe has its uses in particular cases; 
we do not wholly condemn it, but, like any shoe, it 
must be fitted with reference to the foot upon which 
it is to be placed, and it may answer its purpose. 



And How to Shoe it. 



45 



CHAPTER XII. 




Quarter Crack. 

There are several causes of quarter crack; first, when 
the coronary ligament by which the horn is secreted, 
becomes divided, there will be a divi- 
sion of the horn as it grows down, 
either in the form of a sand-crack, 
or (as seen in Fig. 25) by one portion 
of the horn overlapping the other. 
If the liorament is affected from tread 
(by the stepping of one foot on the Quarter crack. 

other, or otherwise), and the coronet corone?and 'r^unnlnf to 

ground surface. 

divided, the crack should be thor- B-showinghowcut out to 

' keep pressure oflF the af- 

oughly cleaned out, rasped or pared, ^^^^^'^ ^"'' 
to ascertain its depth; and then a heated iron, applied; 
after which a coating of pitch put on, with coarse tape 
bound over, and covered by another coating of pitch; 
and the centennial shoe used, rest- 
ing the bars of the foot on the bars 
of the shoe, but taking care that 
no pressure is brought to bear upon 
the crust, immediately under the 
crack. The crack may be caused 
by the crust, or outer wall, becom- 
ing very thick and strong, and the 
heels allowed to grow very high. 
The sole, in this case, being concave on the bottom, and 
also very thick, makes the whole foot so strong and 




Fig- 25 
A — Showing the evil effects of a 
crack in the sensible lam- 
inae. 



46 The Horse's Foot, 

solid, as to deprive it of all elasticity. The horse, in 
motion, springs from his toe and lands on his heel; but 
having no springs in his hoofs to soften the jar, the foot 
must give, which it generally does near the heel, 
producing quarter crack. 

Such a foot, for the reception of the shoe, should 
be well pared. The outer wall or crust should be 
rasped down from coronet to ground surface, as far 
back as the quarters, to give this part of the foot a 
chance to expand; and the toe should be well shortened 
up. The shoe should be nailed solidly to the heels and 
neatly up to the wall of the foot, so as to utilize all the 
bearing; but a space, the thickness of a knife blade, 
should be left between the toe of the shoe and that of 
the foot. Let no pressure be brought on the toe, nor 
allow the shoe to spring off of the heels. 

A crack in the hoof may also be caused by im- 
proper stabling, on wooden floors, causing the horn to 
become dry and brittle, and, upon receiving hard pound- 
ing on dry roads, is liable to crack; or the sensible 
laminae may become weakened, and allow the coffin 
bone to drop on the sole, and, in part, produce flat foot 
(see Fig. 20). If, now, the hoof should become lifeless 
and brittle, and the cartilages within ossified, the bones 
and ossified cartilages, being harder 
than the brittle shell without, will crack 
the outside crust when the horse is in 
violent motion. In this case, dress the 
hoof, as before, and use the shoe (Fig. 
26), with toe and heel calkins of the 
same length. The clips (see A A) are 
Fie. 26. used to keep the heels from spreading. 

A A — Showing clips on the , , , ^ 

si>°e- The toe and heel calks should be of 

the same length, to keep the foot always level. The toe 




And How to Shoe it. 



47 



of the shoe should be set back from the front part about 
two inches, and should be long enough to reach across 
from one side to the other. 

Coupling the foot so short, in this way, will ease it 
over In case the joints have lost their action, from the 
ossified condition of the cartilages. 

These cracks occur in the hind feet as well as in 
the fore ones; but they are generally found in the front 
part of the hoof, because the princi- 
pal stress is thrown on the toe, in 
digging it into the ground in the act 
of drawing. 

In the fore feet they are usually 
found in the inner quarter, in conse- 
quence of its being the weaker; but 
sometimes are found in the outer 
quarter. 




Fig. 27. 
Showing the crack of the 

crust in the hind foot. 
A — The crack, 
m, 1 1 / T-«' ^\ B— The toe scored Out to re- 

Ihe steel shoe (see Jt^ig. 16) may ueve the pressure. 



be used to good advantage for split-foot in front. 




48 The Horse's Foot, 



CHAPTER XIII. 
The Hock. 

There are six bones that compose the hock-joint of 
the hind legs, the most important of which, is the hind- 
most one. It projects upwards and backwards, and in 
this way, gives not only a leverage capacity to raise the 
leg, but by its prominence, that power also necessary 
to sustain the weight of the horse, and to propel its 
weight forward. The hind legs differ from the fore ones 
in this respect, the propelling muscles being located in the 
hind-quarters. Hence, a good, large hock is necessary 
in hard work. The size differs in different horses. 

The hock-joint is subject to a number of diseases ; 
one is curb. Sometimes this joint is curved instead of 
being angular, in which case the back sinew running 
over the edge of the hock, works at a disadvantage 
and will burst the ligament, that holds it in place at the 
lower end of the joint. The danger is increased on this 
circular ligament, if the hocks are turned toward each 
other, (cow-hocked). When the ligament is broken, 
inflammation will ensue, followed by an enlargement of 
the hock. 



And How to Shoe it. 49 



CHAPTER XIV. 
Spavin. 

Bone Spavin, is a bony enlargement at the upper 
end of the shank bone, at the hock joint, or a little be- 
low it on the inside of the leg. This is brought to bear 
by an undue strain upon this side. 

Heavy draught horses, and young horses, before 
the bones are properly knit together, are the most subject 
to it. 

It will be remembered, what we have said before, 
in regard to throwing the weight of the horse too much 
on one side of the foot, which will cause an enlargement 
of the splint bones, (see Fig. i — 7). When this is 
done in the hind leg, upon the inner splint bone, the 
pressure is brought to bear unevenly upon the bones of 
the hock joint, and causes this new growth of bone. 

The smith, sometimes, by putting a calkin on the 
outer heel of shoe to prevent one foot from treading on 
the other, causes this trouble, thus giving an unequal 
bearing, which will strain the ligaments of the joints; 
hence, the tumor called bone-spavin. 

When a horse has become affected with a spavin, 
he is generally more lame when the new bone is forming, 
than when the membrane of the bone, has accommodated 
itseli in size to the tumor, which it surrounds. Thus it 
is, that some horses with very large spavins, have but 
little lameness, and others with a very small bony tumor 
get so lame as to destroy the usefulness of the horse. 



50 



The Horse's Foot, 



Fig. 28 shows a hind foot shoe, that can be used 
for spavin or curb to good advantage. These shoes 
extend about three-quarters of an 
inch back of the heel, vs^hich will 
shorten the down action of the foot. 
The heel calkins are one-fourth of an 
inch higher than those at the toe. A 
high heeled shoe will be awkward at 
first, but it will, it is believed, relieve 
Fig. 28. ^\^Q joint of the strain upon it. The 

projections of the shoe behind will destroy, in a meas- 
ure, the down and up movement, which will shorten the 
stride. We will presently discuss this subject more 
fully. 





And How to Shoe it. 51 



CHAPTER XV. 
The Navicular Joint Disease. 

This is a disease that must be turned over to the 
veterinary surgeon, and then, the cure is extremely un- 
certain, especially if it be in contracted feet. 

The navicular bone, it will be remembered, is be- 
hind and above the heel of the coffin-bone, and below 
the lower pastern bone, (see Fig. lo, B. ) It is one of 
the three, that forms the coffin joint. Under this 
bone, passes the flexor tendon, the bone itself, serving 
the tendon, in the capacity of giving it more leverage 
which causes a great deal of weight to be thrown upon 
it, and from this bone on the tendon. 

Now, if there is too much play between the bone and 
the tendon, or, if the cartilage of the bone is affected in 
an}- way, the delicate membrane, lining this bone, may 
in consequence become affected, which is the seat of the 
disturbance; although the coffin joint, may be the seat 
of the lameness. 

The trouble may arise in contracted feet, by the 
compression of the inner frog, which will interfere with 
the action of this joint. If the feet are not contracted, 
the sole should be pared, the quarters rasped, and a 
shoe used without nails in the inner quarters, so as to re- 
move all surrounding pressure. 



52 



The Horse's Foot, 



CHAPTER XVI. 
Shoes for Different Feet. 



Every horse should be shod with reference to the 
work he is required to perform; also, for the particular 
shape, defect or disease, he may have in his feet. This 
makes it impossible to lay down anything more than 
general principles. Special rules to be governed by 
can not be given, as what will answer in one case will 
not always do in another. The owner of the horse and 
an intelligent smith, alone, know wHat is best, and then 
only in some cases, after many experiments have been 
made. However, we will make a few notes in a gen- 
eral way. 

The foot of the draught horse should be left good 
and strong — more so than the roadster or track horse — 

the same as the mule, 
for heavy work, as he 
throws all his strain on 
his feet in heavy pulling, 
and when driven over 
rough and stony places 
he is more liable to pick 
^'^- ='9- Fig- 30. up stones and nails to 

bruise himself with. For this reason, let the sole be 
good and strong. The outer wall of the foot should 
be rasped as little as possible, as this destroys the 
enamel and subjects the horn to hardness and brittle- 
ness. Clipping is necessary sometimes, but clippmg 
hot, and burning the clip into the toe, is very destruc- 
tive to the sensible lamincE, and often causes a spur (see 




And How To Shoe it. 



53 



Fig. 25, A) to shoot up on the inside of the coffin box, 
causing the coffin bone to decay and waste away at 
that place. I have seen it reduced in this way to one- 
half of its original size. 

The mule's foot is differently shaped from that of 
the horse, and must be shod differently. It is longer 
and requires a longer shoe (see Fig. 29). It is, in 
form, like the contracted hoof — the horn being upright, 
especially at the quarters. And yet, because the mule 
is seldom or never lame, it does not follow that a horse's 
foot, when contracted, will not sometimes go lame — as 
it is altogether differently formed. 

Any one can readily see that for heavy draft pur- 
poses the horse or mule, with his wide slab-like shank 
bone, large hocks and short pasterns, 
should be shod suitable for slow, heavy 
work. The shoe shown in Fig. 31 
is sometimes used to allow a space 
between the toe of the shoe and toe 
of the foot; this saves the horn at 
that part, when the foot is weak, and p. 

that space is left to take pressure off AA-shoe cut down in front 

■^ JT SO as to allow a space be- 

t-VkCk f/-ick tween toe of shoe and 

UlC LUC. toe of foot. 

The saddle horse needs some wind and some bot- 
tom, and must have good legs all around; enough action 
to lift and place his foot properly; a 
pastern of the right length so as not 
to stumble; or he must have a shoe 
properly coupled, if calks are used to 
prevent it. He must perform the 
work of a hackney, and, as such, 
must be shod so that he will not carry 
his feet too high ; or if the tendency is 
to dig his toe into the ground, before 





Fig. 32. 
English Seated Shoe 
Saddle Horses. 



for 



54 The Horse's Foot. 

the foot is firmly placed, the smith must correct this, 
if possible, as he is liable to topple over, when he strikes 
some object in the "way. 

If the saddle horse approaches the thoroughbred, 
he becomes the less fitted for this especial business. 
His stride, then, is apt to be too long; his pastern too 
slanting; and his feet too small. His feet should be 
perfectly straight, neither turned in, nor out, and should 
be kept so by the smith; and his hoof should be prop- 
erly balanced all around, from coronet to ground sur- 
face. Use the shoe (Fig. 32) with the inside part of 
web beveled off, or made concave, that it may not press 
upon the sole; for the sole descends when the foot is 
placed upon the ground, and, if the shoe is flat on the 
sole side, or side next to the foot, the occasional pressure 
would bruise the sensible sole between the horny one 
and the coffin bone. The concave shoe, by its being 
beveled, prevents the possibility of such injury. 

While horses are traveling, dirt and gravel are apt 
to get in between the shoe and sole; but the shoe being 
beveled, in this case, they will be shaken out. A flat 
shoe would retain them — this shoe is flat on the ground 
surface only. 

The foot should be pared, so that the frog will come 
just within the level of the ground surface of the shoe, 
so that, in the descent of the sole, the 
frog will touch the ground. Fig. ^^ 
shows a shoe of a different kind, and 
how the action may be quickened, by 
rolling it, or beveling it at the toe, from 
the inside of rim, or web to the outside. 
Fig. 33. The owner of the horse must de- 

termine what weight of shoe the horse can best carry, 




And How to Shoe it. 55 

with most ease to himself; and in this, care and judg- 
ment should be exercised, as it is important that the 
shoe be not heavier than is really required, for every 
additional ounce in weight, beyond what is necessary, 
requires, during the entire work of the day, a consum- 
mation of muscular energy, even in the hackney, that is 
truly appalling. The horse will raise his foot at least fifty 
times a minute, or three thousand times an hour; and all 
four feet, at this rate, sixty thousand times a day of five 
hours work — so to carry a shoe of two ounces unneces- 
sary weight, he would waste power and expend enough 
enouo:h to move a weiofht of seven thousand five hundred 
pounds. The point is one worthy of consideration, at least. 
In the trotting horse every inch of his stride counts 
in the race, and if, by shoeing, the stride can be length- 
ened, the speed can be increased. Fig. 
34 shows a shoe made light, not over 
eight ounces, snugly fit up to both 
sides of the frog, at the heels, to 
quicken the action of a horse. If it 
was beveled at the toe and thick at the 
heels, it would also increase the speed 
by lettino^ the horse get his foot over ^'^' ^^' 

, T^ . . ■ , Hind Foot Shoe to quick- 

quickl}'. But the mam pomt m this en the Action, 
shoe is the snug fit at both sides of the heels; for, in 
this case, the downward movement of the foot, when 
the horse is in motion, is not impeded by the shoe. A 
horse with a long pastern, in a full gait, almost sweeps 
the ground with the tuft at his fetlock joint, and the 
downward motion not being impeded, he can get the 
quick up motion in return when the foot is lifted; but if 
the downward motion is destroyed, the quick up motion 
is likewise injured, and the flexor tendon is hindered or 
impeded in its up and down movements. 




56 



The Horse's Foot, 




Fig- 35- 

To slow the action of a 
Horse behind. 



By reference to Fig. 35 it can be seen how the 
projections of the shoe at the heels will interfere with 
the down movements of the foot, and 
the full exercise of the flexor tendon. 
That down movement is destroyed in 
part, and the action of the heel is 
checked, which also destroys the 
springiness of the foot, in getting the 
rapid and quick up movement. It may 
do very well for colts or horses that 
overreach, by slowing the action be- 

Showing projections of shoe i> 11 ,•/-•,• 1 r j1 i_ 11 

behind to interfere with hmd, Dut II it IS douc lor thc tracK horse, 

the down action of the 

flexor tendon. thcrc may be, in consequence, some 

Square toe calk, one and 

one-haif inches high, raccs lost; for, destroying this quick up 
and down action shortens the stride of the horse; and 
that, too, in proportion to the projections of the shoes 
behind. Now, the average stride of the fast gallop is 
twenty-four feet, and that of the trotter about seventeen 
feet; so we can readily see, that if we slow the action 
enough to shorten the stride but one half inch, how it 
would sadly tell at the end of the race. 

The toe-weight shoe is used in changing the gait 
of a horse, and in giving him good knee action. It acts 
on the same principle that weights in 
the boy's hands do in obtaining a spring 
for a leap. The foot being thus 
weighted necessitates, in some cases, 
the horse's carrying his head up, for 
one pound of the foot is equal (in pro- 
portion to the length of the lever) to 
several at the seat of the propelling The Toe-wei'ght shoe, 
muscles in the fore arm, above the knee. It thus 
balances the horse the same as done by his lowering 
the head. 




Fig. 37- 



And How to Shoe it. 



57 



The Racing Plate is a very light, 
narrow rim of iron from two to three 
ounces in weight, and only about half 
an inch in width. The under side is 
grooved. 




Fig. 38. 
Racing Plate. 




58 



The Horse's Foot, 



CHAPTER XVII. 



Interfering Horses. 




Fig, 3g. 
Hind Foot Ankle Cutter. 

Toe calkin on inside of toe. 
Long heel calkin on inside 

of heel. 
Sm.ill heel calkin on outside 

of heel. 



Interfering horses are those that strike their ankles, 

or strike one foot against the inside of the fetlock joint, 
called ankle cutters ; and those that cut 
from the knee down, called speedy 
cutters. There are several reasons 
why horses cut; the principal one is, 
that they are not shod properly. They 
will cut, sometimes, from leg weari- 
ness or from awkwardness; sometimes 
from being deformed in the fetlock 
joint; and even, sometimes, when their 
ankles are turned out, in consequence 
of their being bow-legged behind. 
There are many and various ways of shoeing for 

this. We give several cuts, showing the different shoes 

used to prevent it. It 

is not always the case 

that the same shoe will 

do for more than 

one horse. In case, for 

example, the more you 

raise the inside of shoe, 

(Fig. 39) the worse a 

horse whose ankles are 

turned out, in consequence of being bow-legged, will 

strike; yet, when the shoe is highest on the inside, with 




'ig. 40- Fig- 41- 

Different Styles of Shoes. 




And How to Shoe it. 59 

two or three nails only, on inside near the toe, then, if 

the foot is pared properly, the shoe will, in many cases, 

stop the cutting; but if 

the horse is bow-legged, 

the opposite must be 

followed, for the more 

you raise the foot on 

the inside, the more it 

will strike. Figures 40 

and 41 show how the Fig. 42. Fig. 43. 

., , 111 Different Styles of Shoes. 

the shoes are beveled 

to let the horse miss, in getting his feet over. Figure 
42 gives the cut of a shoe used sometimes for elbow or 
arm cutting, showing a gradual tapering in the width ot 
web, from heel to toe. ' 

Horses that have high action, are generally (if 
they cut at all) speedy cutters, and, in this case, it is 
invariably done in fast driving. The shoe with a taper- 
ing web, will, in some cases, prevent this. 

A horse whose toes turn out, and ankles turn in, 
will strike from the quarters back to the heel, and is an 
instance where interfering can only with difficulty (if 
at all) be stopped. 

If a boot is fastened over the place where the foot 
strikes, and then covered with chalk, the horse, by 
being trotted over the road, will show where he strikes, 
and where to alter the shoe; sometimes a very small 
matter causes the mischief 

Forging or Over-reaching is caused, sometimes, 
by the front of the toe of the hind shoe striking against 
the heel of the fore shoe (generally the outer heel) ; 
and sometimes, when the horse, after raising the front 
foot from the ground, dwells in the action, the hind 



60 The Horse's Foot, 

foot follows quickly, and forces itself into the opening 
of the fore shoe before the foot gets out of the way. 
In either case, it produces that click-click, disagreeable 
sound. 

A good way to prevent this, is to make the hind 
shoe, narrow at the toe, rather pointed, with the toe pro- 
jecting over the shoe, and with a small clip in the 
center. Now, as the front shoe is turned up, the pro- 
jecting horn of the hind shoe will be stopped by the 
sole or frog, before any part of the two shoes can come 
together. Again, if the front shoe is beveled inwardly, 
(as in Figs. 41 and 43) to a feather edge, the trouble 
may be avoided. 

Only horses that are straight travelers strike; 
pacers, of course, can not, nor trotters that throw their 
feet out well. Foi those that travel straight, a shoe 
beveled or rolled on the outer quarter, 7nay cause them 
to throw their feet differently (Figs. 40 and 41); or a 
shoe to slow the action of a horse behind (Fig. '^^ may 
do in many cases. 



And How to Shoe it. 61 



CHAPTER XVIII. 
Canker. 

When the sole is wounded or pricked by nails, 
pieces of glass, or sharp, flinty stones, or the little 
fleshy plates are wounded by nails in shoeing, it will 
sometimes lead to Canker — although Canker is more 
often the result of neglected thrush, than it is of any 
other disease of the foot. It is oftenest found in heavy 
cart horses; and, horses with hairy white legs, and 
thick skins. It is sometimes hereditary. When a foot 
is diseased in this way, the horn is separated from the 
sensible part of the foot, and a fungus matter sprouts 
up in the space occupied by a part, or may be, the 
whole of the sole or frog. 

The cure of Canker is most difficult, and is the 
business of the veterinary surgeon, but the smith may 
do much to prevent it in not using such enormous shoes 
as is done sometimes— and which require so many 
large nails to hold them on, and subjects the feet to so 
much awkwardness as to cause bruises and treads on 
the coronet. The owner of the horse may also prevent 
it by keeping his stables free from filth, which induces 
thrush — the original cause oftentimes of Canker. 

Grease. — This is a disease of the heel of either 
of the fore or hind feet, resulting in the inflammation of 
the skin. 

The skin of the heel, in a healthy state, has a 
greasy feel, but when the skin, at this place, is diseased. 



62 The Horse's Foot, 

the inflammation stops the secretions, and the heel 
becomes chapped and cracked, and full of soreness. 
These cracks are found at the center of the heels, some- 
times on the fetlock, and even up the legs. 

There are several causes of Grease: want of clean- 
liness in stables is one, sudden and extreme change of 
temperature, want of exercise has a tendency to excite 
inflammation in the skin of the heel, and sometimes when 
the horse has been warmed by his work and then 
suddenly cooled oft" by cold washing, and the heels not 
properly dried, may cause Grease. 

The disease results from mismanagement and 
neglect. It is not found in our cavalry, and should not 
be found in the stables of the gentleman and farmer. 

Weakness of the Foot. — Weak feet often pre- 
sent the same appearances as the pumiced foot — -in 
having a crust full of ridges, and roughened in circles 
or rings; and, also, the indented hollow midway 
between the coronet and ground surface at the toe. 

The form of a weak foot is very well shown in 
Fig. 7, but the sole is not always convexed, as in flat 
or pumiced feet. The bars are small in size, the heels 
low and weak, and crust very thin. The foot is not 
able for anything more than light work, and should be 
shod only with a light, wide, concave, webbed shoe — 
with little or no paring of the hoof at the time of 
shoeing. 

QyiTTOR. — This often arises from bad tread, or 
over-reach; or it may arise from a wound in the bottom 
of the foot; or from a nail in the foot, or stub of a nail, 
which has been left in the wound, and the small aper- 
ture which was made, closed up, so as to shut in the 
matter then formed. This matter will force its way 



And How to Shoe it. 



63 



through at some place ; it ma}' be at the bottom of the 
foot, where it will separate the horny sole from the 
fleshy one; it may ooze up and out at the coronet; and 
it may so aflfect the whole foot as to injure the carti- 
lages, ligaments, and coffin joint. 

Sometimes a narrow webbed shoe will leave the 
sole of the foot exposed, and the foot will receive 
bruises that will lay the foundation for Quittor. Flat 
feet are very liable to be bruised; also, feet where the 
sole has been pared out too closely. The matter 
wherever formed, will produce ulcerations; this will 
separate the sensitive parts from the horn ; that can not 
easily (if it can at all) be again united. 

A foot diseased thus with Quittor should be turned 
over to an experienced veterinary surgeon. 




64 The Horse's Foot, 



CHAPTER XIX. 
What Great Writers say on Shoeing Horses. 

Mr. Miller, in quoting Miles, takes the following 
directions from his excellent treatise on horse shoeing: 

Preparing the Foot. 

"You must begin by taking off one of the old shoes; 
and I say one, because the others should always be kept 
on for the horse to rest upon. 

" All horses stand quieter on shod feet than they do 
on bare ones/ and they are less likely to break the 
crust. Many tender footed horses are in positive agony 
when forced to rest on a bare foot, while the opposite 
one is held up to be shod. 

"First, raise all the clinchers, with the buffer; and 
if the shoe will not then come off easily, loosen some of 
the nails with the punch; but never ^ tear the shoes off 
by main force; it splits the crust, widens the nail-holes, 
and destroys the horn. 

The shoe being off, you should rasp the edge of the 
hoof all round, and take out any stubs that may be left 
in the crust; then you must pare out the foot; and this 
requires both care and thought. 

" If the horse has a strong foot, with plenty of horn 
you should shorten the toe, lower the heels and crust, 
and remove the dead horn from the sole; and also from 
the corners between the heels and bars. 



And How to Shoe it, 65 

" The best way to do this, is to pare the bars down 
nearly level with the sole: and then you can get at the 
dead horn in the corners, more easily. The part of the 
bar which stands up above the sole, would have been 
worn away or broken down, if the shoe had not kept the 
hoof off of the ground; therefore, you had better always 
pare it down. But, on no account, ever cut any- 
thing away from the sides of the bars, nor what is called 
'open out the heels'; and be sure you never touch the 
frog with a knife. Now, remember, that there are 
three things which you must never do, in paring out a 
foot; you must never cut the sides of the bars; nor open 
out the heels; nor pare the frog — and I will tell you 
why: 

"The bars are placed there to keep the heels from 
closing in on the frog; and if you thin them by 
cutting their sides, you weaken them, and they can no 
longer do it, and the foot begins to contract. Opening 
out the heels does exactly the same thing, by weakening 
the very parts which Nature placed there to keep the 
heels apart. It takes some time to contract a horse's 
foot so much as to lame him; and because the contrac- 
tion comes on by slow degrees, no one notices it till the 
horse falls lame, and then every one wonders what can 
have done it; but very few hit upon the right cause. 

" The frog is a thick, spongy cushion, whose chief 
use is to protect a very important joint called the navic- 
ular joint; and it is covered by a thin layer of horn, 
which keeps in the moisture; and every time you slice 
off any of the frog, you lay bare a part that was never 
meant to be exposed to the air; and it dries, and cracks, 
and forms rags; and if these rags are cut off at every 
fresh shoeing, the whole frog becomes as dry and hard 



66 The Horse's Foot, 

as a board, and the horse gets an incurable disease 
called the ' navicular disease.' Therefore, I say, leave 
the frog alone; it will never grow too large, for, long 
before that would happen, the outer covering would 
shell off, and a new horny covering will be found under- 
neath. As to the rags, leave them alone, also, and they 
will fall off themselves. 

" A weak, flat foot will bear a very little paring or 
rasping. The crust of such a foot is sure to be thin at 
the toe, and low at the heels, with a thin and weak sole. 
Therefore, the less you do it, the better, beyond making 
the crust level where it is to bear upon the shoe. This 
must be done to all feet, and, as the inner quarter, where 
there should be no nails, does not not wear away as fast 
as the outer quarter, where the nails are driven, you 
should always place a rasp upon its edge across "the foot 
to be quite sure that the two sides are level. I have 
known shoes lost from the inside quarter being higher 
than the outside, which causes the foot to bear unevenly 
on the shoe. Before you pare out a foot, you should 
always think of the state of the roads; and if they are 
dry and covered with loose stones, or have been lately 
repaired, you should take but very little off of the sole 
of any foot, because, if you thin it, the stones will bruise 
it; and when the season is wet, and the stones worn in, 
you may pare the sole of a strong foot a little, till it 
will yield in a very slight degree to the heaviest pressure 
you can make upon it with your thumb; but you must 
never pare it thin enough to yield to less pressure than 
the very heaviest you can bring to bear upon it.' " 

We think that these views of Mr. Miles are sound, 
and will add, that the owner will find it oftentimes to 
his advantage to accompany his horse to the forge. 



And How to Shoe it. 67 

Smiths do not alwa3^s take the trouble in raising 
clenches, and easing the shoe off as they should, but 
too often, after carelessly going round the crust and 
raising but one or two, by violent wrenches at the 
heel and toe, tears the shoe from the foot. This en- 
larges the nail-holes, and oftentimes injures the foot by 
tearing off portions of the crust. The clenches should 
always be raised or filed off, and when the foot is 
tender and the horse is lame, each nail had better be 
partly punched out. 

Choosing a Shoe. — The same author remarks 
that the first thing to look to in choosing a shoe is the 
kind of foot you have to deal with. If the foot be a 
strong, good shaped one, it will be an easy matter to 
find a shoe for it, only take care that the web is not too 
narrow, and that the shoe is not too light. A light shoe 
is apt to bend before it is half worn out, and the pain 
caused by the pressure of the bent nails against the 
tender lining of the hoof throws the horse down, and 
most likely breaks his knees. If the foot should be 
flat, with a weak, brittle crust, you must still choose a 
stout shoe, for a horse with such a foot could not go at 
all on a bent shoe; and the shoe must have a wide 
web, because the sole is sure to be thin, and will need 
plenty of cover to protect it. 

You must look at the seating, for, if the foot is 
weak and flat, the shoe must be well seated out to pre- 
vent its pressing upon, and bruising, the sole; but, if 
the foot is strong, and the sole arched, there need not 
be more seating than will allow the point of a picker to 
pass freely around between the sole and the shoe, 
otherwise, the dirt and small stones will get in and 
bruise the sole, as much as the shoe would do, if it 
pressed upon it. 



68 The Horse's Foot, 

We should think that the weight of the shoe should 
vary in size with the kind of foot and the nature of the 
work. A weak foot should not wear a heavy shoe, nor, 
in fact, any shoe longer than a month. The shoe should 
not be heavier than the work requires. Horses used 
for heavy work, are shod with heavy shoes — thick toe, 
and quarter clips, high calks, and steel toes; and, in 
consequence of the great wear and tear, and strain, are 
shod about once in every three weeks; for the roadster, 
a narrow, light shoe is fitted to the crust; and the racer, 
a bare rim of iron, flat on the foot surface, and grooved 
on the ground. 

Another fashion, imitates an old shoe worn off at 
the toe, which is certainly an advantage to roadsters; 
(see cut). These new shoes to their feet are like new 
shoes to our feet, if they were made to fit exactly like 
the old ones. 

The French shoes have a convex ground surface, 
and the foot is fashioned to it by leaving the quarters 
full, and the crust sloped off towards the toe and heels. 

Stonehenge states: "That, until recently, the whole 
process of making shoes was performed by hand; but 
now, in the United States, the greater bulk is made by 
machinery, and at one immense establishment. 

" The manufactory of Messrs, Burden & Sons, at 
Troy, New York State, with its six forging machines, 
turns out six shoes per second; and, in four years, made 
twenty-five thousand tons; or, calculating one and a 
half pounds to the shoe, thirty-seven millions. These 
shoes are of the very best of iron, warranted to bend 
double cold, and wear as long as any made by hand; 
the iron used in their manufacture bearing a tensile 
strain of seventy-eight thousands pounds to the square 
inch. 



And How to Shoe it. 69 

"The power of the factory is gained by a large 
stream of water, with a head of Seventy-two feet, acting 
on an over-shot wheel sixty feet in diameter, with 
buckets twenty-two feet long and six feet and four 
inches deep — the whole wheel weighing over three 
hundred tons. Connected with the establishment is a 
horse shoe museum, comprising many hundred speci- 
mens of shoes of all ages and all countries, collected 
together at much expense, with a view to improvement 
upon the old types. There are now three different 
patterns manufactured, and they will furnish any other 
pattern desired, if ordered in sufficient quantities." 

The cost of the shoe to the blacksmith is about a 
cent and a half a pound above the price of the iron. 

I propose, at this point, to note at length quotations 
of Murray from Lafosse, the great French veterina- 
rian, the wisest man, in Mr. Murray's opinion, who 
ever wrote on the subject, and from whose works more 
ideas have been taken without any acknowledgment, by 
the writers of the last fifty years, on the horse's foot, 
than from any other author. He wrote in the first half 
of the eighteenth century, and when spe,aking of the 
errors then existing in horse-shoeing, he says: 

1. "Long shoes, thick at the heels, never remain 
firmly attached to the feet in consequence of their 
weight, and break the clenches of the nails. 

2. "They require proportionately large nails to 
retain them, and these split the horn; or, frequently, 
their thick stalks press against the sensitive laminae 
and sole, and cause the horse to go lame. 

3. " Horses are liable to pull off these long shoes 
when the hind foot treads upon the heel of the fore shoe, 
either in walking or while standing, by putting one on 



70 The Horse's Foot, 

the other, or between two paving stones in the pave- 
ment, between the bars of gates, in the drawbridges of 
fortifications, or in heavy ground. 

4. " They move heavily, as the weight of their 
shoes fatigues them. 

5. " Long shoes with massive heels raise the frogs 
from the ground and prevents the horse walking on 
those parts. Then, if the horse has a humor in the 
frog, it becomes a Frictbrush, or Crapand (Canker) 
because the humor lodges there. In shoeing with short 
shoes, the horse goes on his frog; the humor is dissi- 
pated more easily, particularly in the fore feet, as the 
animal places more weight upon them than the hind 
ones. 

6. " Long shoes, thick at the heels, when put upon 
the feet which have low heels, bruise and bend them 
inwards, and lame the horse, although the heels be 
sprung; and when the foot is raised, we can see daylight 
between the shoe and the hoof. When it is on the 
ground, the heel descends to the shoes, because the hoof 
is flexible. 

7. "Shoes long, and strong at the heels, when the 
foot is pared — the frog being removed a long distance 
from the ground — cause many accidents; such as the 
rupture or straining of the flexor tendon, and compres- 
sion of the vascular sole — a circumstance not known 
until I pointed it out. 

8. " Long shoes, cause horses to slip and fall, be- 
cause they act like a patten on the slippery pavement as 
well in summer as in winter. 

9. " Long shoes are also injurious where horses 
lie like a cow, in consequence of the heels wounding 
the elbows. 



And How to Shoe it. 71 

10. "Calkins should not be used on paved roads; 
they are only useful on ice or slippery ground. 

11. "The calkins on the inside heels are liable to 
wound the coronet when the horse happens to cross his 
feet. 

12. "A horse shod with them, is soon fatigued, and 
never goes easy. 

13. "The horse which has only a calkin on the 
outside, does not stand fair; and the calkin confines the 
movement of the coronary articulation, the foot being 
twisted to one side. 

14. " If a horse has his feet pared, and loses a 
shoe, he cannot travel without breaking and bruising the 
wall and damaging the horny sole, because the horn is 
too thin to protect it. 

15. "If the shoes are long, and the heels of the 
hoof pared out hollow, stones and pebbles lodge be- 
tween the shoe and the sole, and make the horse lame. 

16. " Flat feet become convex by hollowing the 
shoes to relieve the heels and the frog, because the 
more the shoes are arched from the sole, the more the 
wall of the hoofs is squeezed and rolled inwards; par- 
ticularly towards the inner quarter, which is the weak- 
est. The sole of the foot becomes convexed, and the 
horse is nearly always unfit for service. 

17. " If the wall of the hoof is thin, and the shoes 
are arched, the quarters are so pressed upon that the 
horse is lame. 

18. " Pared hoofs are exposed to considerable in- 
jury from wounds by nails, stones, glass, etc. 

19. "The pared sole readily picks up earth or sand, 
which forms a kind of cement between it and the shoe 
and produces lameness. 



72 The Horse's Foot, 

20. "The reason why it is dangerous to pare the 
feet of horses, is, because, when the sole is pared, and 
the horse stands in a dry place, the horn becomes dessi- 
cated by the air which enters it and removes its mois- 
ture and suppleness, and often causes the animal to be 
lame. 

21. "A habit to be abolished, is that in which the 
farrier, to save trouble, burns the sole with a hot iron 
so as to pare it more easily. The result, often, is to 
heat the sensitive sole and cripple the horse. 

22. "It often happens that, to make the foot pleas- 
ant to look at, the horn of the sole is removed to the quick; 
and the flesh springs out from it. This granulation is 
called a " cherry," and sometimes it makes the horse 
unserviceable for a considerable period. 

23. "It is the pared foot which is most affected 
with what is termed contracted or weak inside quarter, 
and which also lames the horse. 

24. " It also happens that one or both quarters 
contract, and sometimes even the whole hoof; then, in 
consequence of its smallness, all the internal parts are 
confined in their movements. This lames the horse, 
and is due to paring. 

25. "There also occurs another accident. When 
the quarter becomes contracted, the hoof splits in its 
lateral aspect. This accident is termed a sand-crack — 
seime — and the horse is lame. 

26. "The fashion of paring the hoofs, and espec- 
ially the heels, within which are the bars, causes con- 
traction; and this renders the horse lame. 

27. " It is an abuse to rasp the hoofs of horses; 
this alters the hoof, and forms sand-cracks. 

28. " If a horse which has pared hoofs, happens to 



And How To Shoe it. 73 

lose his shoes, and walks without them, the horn is 
quickly used, and the feet damaged. 

29. " Another defect is in the manner of making 
large nail holes in the shoes, etc. 

30. "The majority of farriers, in order to pare the 
sole well, cut it until it bleeds; and to stop the hemor- 
rhage, they burn the place with a hot iron, and the 
horse returns lame to the stable." 

Lafosse goes on to say: 

"To prevent horses slipping on the dry, glistening 
pavement, it is necessary to shoe them with a crescent- 
shaped shoe, that is, a shoe which only occupies the 
circumference of the toe, and whose heels gradually 
thin away to the middle of the quarters, so that the 
frog and heels bear on the ground, and the weight to be 
sustained behind and before; but particularly in the 
latter, because the weight of the body falls heaviest 
there. 

"The shorter the shoe, the less the horse slips; 
and the frog has the same influence in preventing this, 
that an old hat placed under our own shoes, would 
have in protecting us from slipping on the ice." 

Lafosse would, however, shoe a weak-walled foot 
a little longer, (and horses which have thin, convex 
soles) but fits the shoe so that it will not press upon the 
sole and allow the heels and frog to rest upon the 
ground. This is the only true method of preserving 
the foot and restoring it. 

The crescent shoes are used for a horse which has 
weak, incurvated quarters, as they not only relieve 
them, but also restore them to their natural condition; 
also for horses which have contusions at the heels — 
(bleins) corns, and for cracks {seimes). 



74 The Horse's Foot, 

Lafosse further says: 

"These short shoes, thin at the heels, have caused 
the horses to walk on their frogs, which are their points 
of support; and those which were lame at the heels, to 
become sound again; those, also, whose inside quarters 
were contracted, bent over, and split (sand-crack,) have 
been cured. 

" It has been the same with horses whose quarters 
and heels have been contracted: these have been 
widened, and have assumed a proper shape. The same 
may be said of those whose soles were convex, and 
which went lame, with long shoes. My method has 
also preserved those horses which had a tendency to 
thrush, and canker of the frog. 

" If the horse be shod with calkins, there is a great 
space between the frog and the ground; the weight of 
the body comes on the calkins; the frog, which is in 
the air, cedes to the weight; the tendon is elongated; 
and, if the horse makes a violent and sudden move- 
ment, the rupture of that organ is almost inevitable, be- 
cause the frog cannot reach the ground to support it in 
the very place it ought to; and if the tendon does not 
break, the horse is lame for a long time from the great 
extension of the fibres, some of which may have been 
ruptured. If the horse be shod without heels to his 
shoes, the frog, which carries all the weight of the 
horse's body, yields at each step, and returns again to 
its original form. 

" This tendon is never in a state of contraction: its 
fibres are no longer susceptible of violent distension 
during a sudden movement. I will go so far as to assert, 
that rupture of the tendon will never occur on a flat 
pavement: if it does, it will be in the space between 
two paving stones. 



And How to Shoe it. 75 

" Two things clearly follow from what I have said 
— that it may happen that the tendon AchUles, sustains 
all the different degrees of violence that can be imag- 
ined, from total rupture to the smallest abrasion of its 
fibres, which will cause the horse to go lame; and it is 
on the frog alone, that all these different degrees de- 
pend, as has been demonstrated, more particularly in 
the fracture of the navicular bone and the anatomy of 
the foot. My new shoeing, I repeat, has nothing to 
oppose it but prejudice. Anato?ny, which has made 
known to me the structure of the foot, has demonstrated 
all of its advantages, and experience has fully confirmed 
them." 

Fleming, quoting the foregoing, in conclusion, says: 

"I regret extremely that our limits forbids my 
translating at greater length from this splendid mono- 
graph; but I hope I have been able, to some extent, to 
show that Lafosse's ideas on shoeing were founded on 
sound anatomical and physiological principles, the re- 
sult of close observation and experience. And yet, 
they appear to have made but little progress in the face 
of the opposition offered by ignorant grooms and far- 
riers, who were incompetent to understand anything but 
the mere everj'-day routine of the rapidly degenerating 
art; and the prejudice of those amateur horsemen, who, 
though the last, perhaps, to take upon trust, statements 
relative to other matters, would yet believe everything 
told them by these horse attendants and shoers. The 
farriers of Paris, indeed, unanimously protested against 
the innovation, two years after Lafosse had published his 
treatise, and their protest seems to have carried the 
mind of the crowd." 

W. Osmer wrote a treatise on the diseases and 



76 The Horse's Foot, 

lameness of horses, (London, 1776), and as he is con- 
sidered good authority, as well as Fleming and Lafosse, 
I will also quote freely from him. 

After warning farriers not to remove anything more 
of the crust, or wall of the hoof, than is absolutely nec- 
essary, he says : 

"In all broad fleshy feet, the crust is thin, and, 
should therefore, suffer the least possible loss. On such 
feet, the rasp alone is generally sufficient to make the 
bottom plain, and produce a sound foundation, without 
the use of the desperate biiti'ess. 

" The superfices of the foot around the outside, now 
made plain and smooth, the shoe is to be made quite 
flat, of an equal thickness all round the outside, and 
open, and most narrow backwards at the extremities of 
the heels, for the generality of horses. Those, whose 
frogs are diseased, either from natural or incidental 
causes require the shoe to be wider backwards, and to 
prevent this flat shoe from pressing on the sole of the 
horse, the outer part thereof is to be made thickest, and 
the inside gradually thinner. In such a shoe, the frog 
is admitted to touch the ground, the necessity of which 
has already been shown; add to this the horse stands 
more firmly on the ground, having the same points of 
support, as in a natural state. 

" Here now, is a plain, easy method, agreeable to 
common-sense, and reason, conformable to the anatom- 
ical structure of the parts, and therefore to the design of 
Nature, a method so plain, that one would think nobody 
could swerve from it, or commit any mistake in the art 
where nothing is required but to make smooth the sur- 
face of the foot, to know what loss of crust each kind of 
foot will bear with advantage to itself, and to nail there- 



And How to Shoe it. 77 

on a piece of iron adapted to the natural tread of the 
horse. The design, good, or the use of the iron being 
only to defend the crust from breaking, the sole want- 
ing no defense, if never pared. 

" The modern artist uses little difference in the 
treatment of any kind of a foot, but with a strong arm 
and a sharp weapon, carries all before him, and will take 
more from a weak-footed horse at one paring, than Na- 
ture can furnish again in some months, whereby such 
are rendered lame. If a strong-footed horse with nar- 
row and contracted heels, be brought before him, such 
meets with treatment yet more severe. The bar is 
scooped out, the frog is trimmed, and the sole drawn as 
thin as possible, even to the quick, under pretense of 
giving him ease, because, he says he is hot-footed, or 
foundered; by which treatment the horse is rendered 
more lame than he was before." 

> Fleming, in quoting Osmer, says: 

" This causes contraction of the hoof and com- 
pression of the parts within; and, besides, a shoe was 
applied thin on the outer circumference and thick on 
the inner, which, being concave to the foot and convex 
to the ground, afforded but few points of support, re- 
moved the frog from pressure, and caused great mis- 
chief. I possess some specimens of this terrible in- 
strument of last-century barbarism. It almost makes 
one shudder to think of the fearful agony the poor 
horses must have suffered when compelled to wear and 
work with it." 

Osmer concludes: "Let the shoe on every horse 
stand wider at the point of the heels than the foot 
itself; otherwise as the foot grows in length, the heel of 
the shoe in a short time, gets within the heel of the 



78 The Horse's Foot, 

horse, which pressure often breaks the crust, and pro- 
duces a temporary lameness, perhaps a corn. 

" Let every kind of foot be kept as short at the toe 
as possible (so as not to affect the quick) ; for, by a long 
toe, the foot becomes thin and weak, the heels low, and 
the flexor tendons of the leg are strained. The short- 
ness of the toe, helps, also, to widen the narrow heels. 
In all thin, weak-footed horses, the rasp should be laid 
on the toe in such a manner as to render it as thick as 
it may be, by which means the whole foot becomes 
gradually thicker, higher, and stronger. 

" In all feet whose texture is very strong, the rasp 
may be laid obliquely on the fore part of the foot to- 
wards the toe, and the toe itself thinned, whereby the 
compression on the parts is rendered somewhat less by 
diminishing the strength of the hoof or crust. 

" But this rasp is to be used with discretion, lest 
the crust, being too thin, and not able to support the 
weight of the horse, sand-crack may ensue; which 
frequently happens from too free or unskilled use of this 
tool, and from the natural rigid texture of the coronet. 
The heel of the shoe, on all strong and narrow-heeled 
horses, should be made straight at the extreme points; 
the form of the shoe, in some measure, helping to dis- 
tend the heel of the horses. For the same reason, the 
shoe on the horse should be extended no farther than 
the point of the heel. It has already been said, that 
neither the frog nor sole should ever be pared; never- 
theless, it must be understood, that it is impossible to 
pare the crust without taking away some of the ad- 
jacent sole; and it is also requisite in order to obtain a 
smooth and even surface, so far as the breadth of the 
shoe reaches, and no farther. The frog, also, will be- 



And How to Shoe it. 



79 



come ragged; and loose pieces will occasionally sepa- 
rate from the body thereof, perhaps in one foot, and not 
in the other. When this happens, it should be cut 
away with the knife to prevent the gravel lodging 
therein; but if it be left to the artist to do, he will 
be sure to take away more of it at one time than will 
grow again in many weeks." 

I have made these quotations, taken from the works 
of the wisest teachers — so considered — the world has 
ever had; and with the accumulated testimony of these 
great men, and for want of more space in this little 
book, will leave the subject with you. 



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